Since turkey season is upon us, let's see those big birds that keep us coming back every year.
My best to date is the one in my avatar. Can't recall the weight at the moment but I'm guessing he was around 20-21#. Maybe more, maybe less. The beard was 12" long and his Spurs were 1-1/2". He was the best to date. Not the most memorable but the best.
Look at my avatar. This web site is so hard to post pics I just want to say,"picture this". It is easy to put a pic in the avatar. I don't get it. ???
Best eastern with a bow..11.5" beard and 1.5" spur
Sorry, I don't have a pic of my biggest. It was actually my first bird...24lbs. and 11" beard...don't remember the spurs.
My best bird was a double with my buddy. The bird itself was nothing special...weighed 20-21lbs., 10 beard, 1" spurs..but it is a pretty special memory me.
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c112/PyreCapt/Deer%20-%20turks/DSC02483.jpg) (http://s26.photobucket.com/user/PyreCapt/media/Deer%20-%20turks/DSC02483.jpg.html)
My Osceola from 2015. Don't recall the beard length..these spurs kinda took the icing...
^^those are some wicked hooks.
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For some reason I can't post any other pics now
I killed a 23# rio with 1 3/8 and 1 5/16 spurs a
A Merriam with 1 5/16 and 1 1/4 spurs
Here's one from my "Top 10 List"
MK M GOBL
Quote from: fountain2 on March 06, 2016, 09:11:55 PM
For some reason I can't post any other pics now
I killed a 23# rio with 1 3/8 and 1 5/16 spurs a
A Merriam with 1 5/16 and 1 1/4 spurs
Awesome - Those are two impressive stats.
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(http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160307/19e41c14cf47ced5f6ebe6be596ea8fd.jpg)
Whoops ... Forgot to post this bird from VA. Not weighed but was a boss!
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My best was a 26 pound bird with 1.75" spurs the beard was just an average 10"
My sons is 25lb 1.5" spurs and a double beard 12.5" and 10.75"
(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd507/rodmsu/gobbler008.jpg) (http://s1223.photobucket.com/user/rodmsu/media/gobbler008.jpg.html)
(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd507/rodmsu/gobbler005.jpg) (http://s1223.photobucket.com/user/rodmsu/media/gobbler005.jpg.html)
Alabama eastern 10.25 beard and 10inch beard. Inch spurs
(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd507/rodmsu/079.jpg) (http://s1223.photobucket.com/user/rodmsu/media/079.jpg.html)
(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd507/rodmsu/078.jpg) (http://s1223.photobucket.com/user/rodmsu/media/078.jpg.html)
Kansas bird. 11 inch beard 1.5 spurs 27lbs.
(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd507/rodmsu/kansas%202014/IMG_0961.jpg) (http://s1223.photobucket.com/user/rodmsu/media/kansas%202014/IMG_0961.jpg.html)
Kentucky Eastern 12inch beard 1.25spurs 22 lbs
Not sure how to quantify best... Beard, spur, weight total nwtf scoring?
So I'll go with my most prized bird. This was a real treat I battled this bird a few days on and off over the season, he roosted on top a big hill deep deep in the public land timber. Giant 50ft bluff on one side and wide open on the other. I set up a few times toward the base of the hill where he should come down through on the way to some near by private farms but this bird literally stopped gobbling and vanished from the hill top every morning at fly down. Last day of the season I decide to go for broke hiked the 2miles back in plus an extra 500yds to circle around the steep bluff an extra 30min early and set up directly ontop the hill where he usually sounded off from. Ended up 35yrds from his roost tree and he landed at 18steps after a few soft clucks. Took a few minutes to notice the double spurs on both legs
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(http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll206/DocHolliday_photos/DSC00518.jpg)
My index finger measures 2" to the joint just beyond the tip of that spur. One was 1 3/4" and the other a shade shorter.
Here is heaviest, best beards and best spurs. I don't have a pic of my best single beard 12.5".
I really do not have a whole lot to brag about. Some of you boys have killed some nice birds though.
Where we hunt in California, we just do not see long spurs very often... This bird had about 1" and 7/8" spurs, and is about as long as I generally see them. I am told it is because of the rock country that wears down the spurs...
Often, I do not get a good look at the beard, and rarely get to see the spurs, cause of the tall grass that is often associated with the areas I hunt as well. Killed this bird in one of my favorite places... It is a steep canyon, and it is easy to run & gun, cause the banks run straight up and straight down on the road, so in general, if I cannot see the birds, they cannot see me...
(http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p51/msorsky/Turkey-pose-4-16-14-r_zps92b4d914.jpg) (http://s125.photobucket.com/user/msorsky/media/Turkey-pose-4-16-14-r_zps92b4d914.jpg.html)
(http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p51/msorsky/Turkey-down-2014_zps10adfafd.png) (http://s125.photobucket.com/user/msorsky/media/Turkey-down-2014_zps10adfafd.png.html)
(http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p51/msorsky/turkey-spurs-2014_zps2e064e7a.png) (http://s125.photobucket.com/user/msorsky/media/turkey-spurs-2014_zps2e064e7a.png.html)
It's not the big ones that keep me coming back every year...it's the memorable hunts, the birds that put on a show, or the ones that made me climb bluffs, wade creeks and creep through thickets to chase them.
But anyway. Here's my best one, killed him last year. He was also my heaviest bird, breaking 24 pounds, and I killed all of my heaviest birds last year as well as a triple beard that was a 2 y/o
This was my first double beard and me and a buddy set up several different places till we finally called him in and I gave him a load of pellets.
(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/16/03/06/34f498e254b176cf9940c8d7d574370b.jpg)
http://youtu.be/7LfoSNn3wbQ
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This bird was my heaviest bird to date. Taken quite a few years ago. Little over 23 lbs.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/PKay2004/TommyThreeToes92/5-1-95.jpg)
This one was a shocker, he had 6 beards on him!!! Main beard was a thick 10 1/2", then he had 4 smaller sized 5 1/2" beards, and short stubby 1". Won the multi-beard contest that year.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/PKay2004/TommyThreeToes92/6beardedbird.jpg)
My best is a tie between these two:
One from last year, he was only a 2 year old but had 5 beards...
(http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/WNYBowhunter/zDSCN0452.jpg) (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/WNYBowhunter/media/zDSCN0452.jpg.html)
(http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/WNYBowhunter/zDSCN0454.jpg) (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/WNYBowhunter/media/zDSCN0454.jpg.html)
MY banded bird from '12 that was at least 8 years old (1 3/16" spurs when banded in feb. 2007) and possibly the oldest known gobbler on record in NY!!!
(http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/WNYBowhunter/Turkey%20Hunting/aaIMG_1330.jpg) (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/WNYBowhunter/media/Turkey%20Hunting/aaIMG_1330.jpg.html)
I killed his brother with a consecutive band # four years earlier back in '08...
(http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/WNYBowhunter/Turkey%20Hunting/aaaIMG_1332.jpg) (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/WNYBowhunter/media/Turkey%20Hunting/aaaIMG_1332.jpg.html)
My wife's KY bird from last spring was the overall biggest typical gobbler that I've ever been part of killing...he was the heaviest (24.5#), had the longest beard (11") and longest hooks (1 3/8")...
(http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/WNYBowhunter/zDSCN0226.jpg) (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/WNYBowhunter/media/zDSCN0226.jpg.html)
This is by far the best gobbler I have ever "lucked" into. Eight-bearded Goulds I took in Mexico about ten years ago.
(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc4/GobbleNut/001-1.jpg)
These are not my best birds (had pics of my SC bird when I was in the Marines but lost all my hunting pics when my dads house burnt) but some decent one's from last couple years:
Pic 1) Ohio bird 2015:24.8lbs, 1in spurs, 10 3/4in beard
Pic2) NY bird 2014: 22.4lbs, 10 1/2in beard & 1 1/4in spurs
Some in random order.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/olesixbeards/Sixbeards.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/olesixbeards/RadarDave.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/olesixbeards/3beards06.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/olesixbeards/P4140066resize.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/olesixbeards/P3160013resize.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/olesixbeards/P4040021.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/olesixbeards/0317093.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/olesixbeards/P5080187.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/olesixbeards/P4300177.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/olesixbeards/GeorgiaOpener1_zps819d8c14.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/olesixbeards/photo_zpse03056d4.jpg)
My heaviest so far and it was also the most turkey intense hunt I've ever had. April 14, 2007. He weighed 24 pounds, 11.75 inch beard, 1.25 inch spurs.
He gobbled from the roost at distance, and again about 250 yards, answering my calls. Then, He went quiet for about 25 minutes. He'd circled behind me, looking for the hen her heard. His footsteps were so loud on the leaves right behind my tree that I thought it was a deer approaching. I was bracing myself expecting a deer snort, but instead heard a PFftttt-VRRUMMMMMmmm from about 10 feet over my right shoulder. It was so loud that it made my lungs vibrate. He walked up right beside me, less than 3 feet away and looked at me hard for what seemed like 30 minutes, but was more like 90 seconds. He was so close, I could have rocked up on my right butt cheek and touched the top of his head. Reluctantly, he kept moving in front of me and when he crossed behind a few trees right close together, I brought the gun the rest of the way up. Shot him at 13 yards. It shakes my nerves loose just thinking about it.
Jim