seen the talk about the heavy birds was curious about the light weight Mature toms you have killed, My smallest was a 14 pound merriam barely 6 inch beard and spurs little under 3/4 had full fan but as soon as I picked him up was no doubt he was light, Have killed few in Neb like that. Smallest eastern was 16 pounds
Mature Tom would be 16#
Jake 12.
12 pound Osceola , 11 inch beard , daggers for Spurs , wings blacker than coal
I would say about 16# for here in NY & PA
14 pound Eastern Gobbler...16 pound Eastern Jake.... :funnyturkey:
16lb as far as mature birds go. Jake was 14. There's been some I haven't weighed but pretty sure those were the lightest.
In 1982, last week of season in Louisiana. 15 1/4 pounds, 11 1/2" beard and 1 1/4" spurs.
14 lbs 9 in beard and 3/4 in spurs. Amazing how the little ones still look big strutting 20 yards in you're face.
In 2014 I killed an 18 pounder it had 1" 3/8" spur 11" beard
I haven't weighed a lot of birds but I'm betting I've got a Tom or two in the 13-15 pound range. Did shoot a jake once that weighed just at 10 pounds. Had a pencil thin beard and was only about 3 inches long. He was shot in early fall.
17lb eastern I killed during last week of season in WI and on the flip side I killed a 22llb 3oz Jake, yup you read that right. Killed him in IA during 2nd Season and he gobbled his head "off" yes pun intended.
MK M GOBL
This one: 14.5 lbs. Funny part was the year before, I called in another 3 year old like this one for the old timer in our camp, he shot his from almost the same tree. That bird had identical spurs and beard, and also weighed 14.5 pounds. :z-dizzy:
(http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j117/paboxcall/P4290014.jpg) (http://s78.photobucket.com/user/paboxcall/media/P4290014.jpg.html)
I never shot a small Tom :funnyturkey:
We shot several longbeards in the 13-15 lb. range one spring back in the early 90's in WV after a REALLY bad winter.
Ive seen areas here in Florida produce a lot 14-16 lb toms but the lightest Osceola I can think of killing was 17 lbs.
17ish but he beat on my Jake like a big boy
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In 2002 I killed a mature tom that weighed 15.5 pounds and had a 11.5" beard! Longest beard to date.
17 lbs. 1 3/8" spurs
have killed a jake that weighed 2 lbs. more in north MO.
they don't weigh them anymore or have check in stations.
Friend of mine killed one 14 lbs with 1 5/8 spurs while hunting with me, neat looking bird
looked like an old old ridgerunner.
15lbs eastern, 11"bd, 1 1/4"sp first of May several yrs ago. He still made the ground shake when he gobbled..
I killed one about 20 yrs ago that weighed 12 1/2 lbs. But he had a 12 ' beard and 1 3/8 spurs! He didn't look very healthy, we didn't eat that one...
14 lb Osceola with 10" beard and 1 1/8" spurs
May 2008 shot a 16lbs tom with a 10 3/4" beard and 1 1/4" spurs
Mine is 17 but my dad on the other hand. His best Tom was actually his lightest bird'
He shot a brute 12" thick paint brush beard 1 3/8 hooks but the bird weighed in at 14 lbs.
15 1/2#, he came from the northcentral bigwoods of PA. Our camp killed several longbeards that year under 16#, including one that was just under 14#.
Last year I killed one with 1 5/8 spurs that weighed 14.5 lbs he was the dominant tom in the area...he would gobble decent on the roost but would hush when he flew down.. that was in mississippi
My lightest weighed 15 lbs and had 11 1/2" beard and one spur that was 1 3/8 " long . The other was broke off. No feathers on his belly. I hunted him for 3 weeks and he would shut up if he heard any call I tried. I ended up setting up on a food plot close to where he was rooster and I just scratched leaves for 2 hrs before he flew down and came in the plot silent. He was covered in bird shot and a couple of his toes were broke. Old Mississippi bird.
Killed a southwest mississippi Eastern in 1994 that barely tipped the scales at 14 pounds. Had a thick 11" beard. He had a nub spur on one leg and a 1-3/16" spur on the other. I think most of my birds that I have killed down here average less than 20#. The heaviest was right at 24lbs. And I have killed way more than my share of gobblers.
I have a very old and rusty, spring-operated scale,...similar to what a lot of the guys in the contest use to weigh their birds,...and I have never weighed a bird with it that was under 25 pounds! ;D :toothy12:
I have weighed a few on a digital scale, though, that weighed in around 15. :angel9:
13#,mature bird.Its not uncommon for a swamp turkey on public land to only weigh 12-14# by end of spring.Private land birds tend to be a bit heavier due to supplemental feeding.
I killed a mature tom at Land between the lakes in ky that just weighed 14 pounds with a 11 inch beard. The smallest mature tom I ever killed in Kentucky by far.
Eastern - 14.5lb with sharp 1 1 /8" spurs taken the last week of the season in MS. Bird also had two 10" beards.
Osceola - 14.5lb with 3/4" spurs taken opening week
In 2012 I took a mature bird with Four beards but he only weighed 16# 4 oz. That was my best scoring bird but lightest mature tom that I have ever taken.
19 lb tom (eastern) but he sported an 11.25" beard & 1-3/8" spurs.
I shot a tom one year that was around 15 lbs. He had a full fan and about a 10 inch beard. He came in hot and gobbling like a boss. The funny thing about this bird was that he had the tiniest feet like those of a hen and he had zero spurs.
11# Osceola...I am still not sure that those scales were correct! ;D
14.5 lbs eastern .. just last year.. he had some kinda Foot fungus which may have contributed to his light weight.
here is the Video...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vDYepMAb1Y
17 1/2 pound Eastern. Lightest turkey I ever harvested but it had the longest beard (11 1/2 inches) and spurs (1 1/4 and 1 3/8) of any bird I have harvested.
I shot a boss Tom that was just under 13-lbs with one inch spurs and 9.5" beard in the late portion of the NY season. There was nearly zero fat on him. Go figure ... :turkey2:
I have never shot a small Tom either. I have picked up a few that shrunk as I walked to them.
I killed and eastern a few years ago that was 12 lbs. He had a 10 in beard 1 and 1/4 in spurs. I think he had some sort of disease. The scales on his legs and feet were peeling off. Anybody ever heard of this? I think I still have the feet somewhere.
I shot an Eastern up towards Dworshak Reservoir in Idaho that weighed 15 lbs, but had 1 3/8 in spurs. Those are my best spurs so far and on the walk back to our truck, my dad found a 6 point elk shed.
I shot a 10 lb bird in the fall a few years ago that was only a few months old. Other than that, as far as spring birds, I shout a 17.5 lb Rio in Kansas last year.
Shot an eastern that had a massive 11in beard, 1in shurs that were like razor blades, but only weighed 12 lbs.. the bird itself was very very small....
I think my lightest eastern bird was about 14 lbs.
2015 Old Gobbler contest Champions
Quote from: augasman on February 22, 2016, 04:43:09 PM
I killed and eastern a few years ago that was 12 lbs. He had a 10 in beard 1 and 1/4 in spurs. I think he had some sort of disease. The scales on his legs and feet were peeling off. Anybody ever heard of this? I think I still have the feet somewhere.
Check my post a few above yours.. 14.5 lbs and some sort of Foot Fungus.. pics are at the end of the Video .. but put them here as well. I don't think the scales were peeling off the legs, but he had swollen grotesque feet that curved into weird directions and the bottoms were patchy white and black and the toenails were either extra long and curved or had been torn off.
(http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u297/rbuzzard/Spring%202015/IMG_20150414_124447_985_zpsqxjgji3l.jpg) (http://s171.photobucket.com/user/rbuzzard/media/Spring%202015/IMG_20150414_124447_985_zpsqxjgji3l.jpg.html)
(http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u297/rbuzzard/Spring%202015/IMG_20150414_113925_959_zps1wrnhofp.jpg) (http://s171.photobucket.com/user/rbuzzard/media/Spring%202015/IMG_20150414_113925_959_zps1wrnhofp.jpg.html)
Quote from: wvboy on February 23, 2016, 10:54:08 AM
Quote from: augasman on February 22, 2016, 04:43:09 PM
I killed and eastern a few years ago that was 12 lbs. He had a 10 in beard 1 and 1/4 in spurs. I think he had some sort of disease. The scales on his legs and feet were peeling off. Anybody ever heard of this? I think I still have the feet somewhere.
Check my post a few above yours.. 14.5 lbs and some sort of Foot Fungus.. pics are at the end of the Video .. but put them here as well. I don't think the scales were peeling off the legs, but he had swollen grotesque feet that curved into weird directions and the bottoms were patchy white and black and the toenails were either extra long and curved or had been torn off.
(http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u297/rbuzzard/Spring%202015/IMG_20150414_124447_985_zpsqxjgji3l.jpg) (http://s171.photobucket.com/user/rbuzzard/media/Spring%202015/IMG_20150414_124447_985_zpsqxjgji3l.jpg.html)
(http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u297/rbuzzard/Spring%202015/IMG_20150414_113925_959_zps1wrnhofp.jpg) (http://s171.photobucket.com/user/rbuzzard/media/Spring%202015/IMG_20150414_113925_959_zps1wrnhofp.jpg.html)
A buddy of mine had killed a bird in the U.P. of Michigan like that, we figured must have been some sort of "disease". My buddy contacted the state agency on it and was told it was from frost bite??? sounded a bit odd to me. All I though was too bad it didn't affect his spurs :)
MK M GOBL
Hmmm.. I never contacted a biologist .. I assumed fungus or foot disease.. never thought about frostbite ..
Smallest longbeard has been 13lbs 9oz - that one was only a 2 year old. Killed a real old bird that only weighed 14lbs.
I killed a mature gobbler in Missouri a few years ago that weighed 14 lbs. When I started to clean him he had black places on his breast like he had been shot before. Cut his beard, spurs, and fan off and threw the rest away.
I think it was between 16 and 17 pounds. Him and his buddy had high pitched gobbles, thought they were jakes till they crested the ridge. He had a real fat paintbrush though.
Killed a 17 pound gobbler in 2008 that had 7/8th inch blunted spurs and a 10 inch beard. He also had several puncture wounds in his breast from getting his @ss kicked by badder birds. He must have gobbled 150 times before he got to me. He met his maker at 16 yards after hopping down from struttting on a downed log.
Jim
16 pounds at the end of season
19 lbs for the smallest tom for me. Not sure about jakes...maybe 13 lbs?
I killed two easterns that weighed around 12 1/2 pounds each several years ago. Both were mature birds with close to 12 inch beards and spurs of at least 1 1/4 inch, if memory serves me correctly. Interestingly enough, the birds were harvested perhaps 3 miles from one another.
The first was one of my most memorable hunts, lasting almost 3 hours and running very close to our quitting time of 1:00 before I was able to seal the deal. I just knew the bird was a monster, and when I ran up and grabbed him, I almost through him over my shoulder. ;D
19#
I killed what I referred to as a pygmy turkey several years ago in Crawford County, Kansas. I didn't weigh it, but no way it could have been more than 12 pounds. It had 1" spurs, 9" beard and it's fan was about half the size of other birds I had killed in the area. Killed him on one of those mid morning flash hunts. He gobbled like he was the king and came in on a string.
16 pound eastern
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Best I remember it was around 13 lbs. It was my first bird & had a 3-4 inch beard. I was as happy as could be. It was also on the last day of season.
Kentucky bird...had a 10" beard, 1" spurs and weighed 14 lbs
south Mississippi gobbler I killed 3 years ago that was 12lbs 8''bird and 3/4" spurs
Eastern Tom....17 lbs.
I killed my smallest bird last year on WMA. It was a 14b 3oz Osceola with a 10 1/2 inch Beard and 1 1/4 inch Spurs. I also called another WMA bird for my girlfriend last year that was 12lbs 9 inch Beard and 3/4 inch Spurs. Both Birds came in Gobbling like they were King of the Woods
17lbs, was an old club footed timber bird in Indiana, one broken spur and the other was 1 3/8ths, bird looked 100 years old...lol
Never really weighed any birds out in Nebraska but I do not recall picking up any that felt as light as that old bird!