How do you all tell the age of a turkey?
I know several people that see a turkey in the woods and say...that's a jake, that's a 2 year old, and those are 4 or 5 year olds.
Are they just making educated guesses, or am I missing something?
I can tell a jake usually by size and the way they act.
As for the others??????????
Thanks.
Jakes will have shorter beards typically, their middle tailfeathers will be longer than the rest and won't complete a nice rounded fan. You may determine a cruddy gobble from a jake If they come running in on a deathwish, probably a jake.
Length of spurs can help you determine approximate age but that's a little hard to do as they're walking around. Nubs on jake, 3/4" on 2 year old. Inch on 3 year old as rule of thumb in these parts. Don't think there's any surefire way to determine birds age between 2,3,4 etc while they're alive.
Agree you want find many turkey's past 3 years of age...most will be 2 year old.. life of a turkey doesn't go past 3 year old very often..
Except for jakes, aging turkeys "on the hoof" is a guessing game.
(http://i1042.photobucket.com/albums/b421/32SteelerFan/age_zpschtigzh9.jpg) (http://s1042.photobucket.com/user/32SteelerFan/media/age_zpschtigzh9.jpg.html)
http://www.pgc.pa.gov/Wildlife/WildlifeSpecies/Turkey/Pages/TurkeyBiologyFAQ.aspx#.Vx6GydQrKM8
Like stinkpickle said, aging "on the hoof" is tough. Easy for jake vs. tom based on tail feathers and beard lengths - but 3 yrs and up is a total SWAG (Scientific Wild A** Guess)
The graph SteelerFan put up is a good general reference. That said, I no longer look at beard length unless it's a legal issue in the state. I've seen too many mature birds with a short beard (beard rot or other issue). One had 1-7/8th inch spurs. Also, called in a bird for my father-in-law years ago. It was raining and the bird didn't strut, but he had a nine inch beard. Picked up the bird and noticed jake spurs. Spread the fan, and it was a jake fan. Often wonder what kind of beard he would have at three.
No way to tell age after 2 years old.
Quote from: VaTuRkStOmPeR on April 25, 2016, 05:44:11 PM
No way to tell age after 2 years old.
Bingo...unless you're lucky enough to get a banded bird. ;)
The older the gobbler the more prominent the skullcap as a general rule, but on the hoof, any gobbler with a full fan and a respectable beard can only be judged as two or better unless you have had the opportunity to watch him grow.
Ods are a 1 1/2 spured bird isn't a three year old. Just saying.
Thanks all.
That's pretty much what I thought.
Basically Jake vs. Mature
I thought I might have been missing something, but it would seem they were just "educated" guesses.
Goes along with telling a bucks age by it's antlers.........LOL
We all know how accurate that is!
Harold
According to Lovett Williams spur length will help you age a turkey up to three years of age.