searched but found no answers ....... we all know about measuring beards and spurs.....what would be a "trophy''measurement for the width of the fan???
Good question! I imagine the size would depend on whether it was a Merriam's, Rio, etc. I just measured a Merriam's and it was 29 1/2" wide. We need some forum members to measure theirs and post the size it measures. :icon_thumright:
I just measured a fan on a big Eastern that was 26 pounds and 1 1/2" spurs and it was 29". I have also shot two year old birds that had huge (wide) tails. I don't think there is any rhyme or reason or age issue.
I guess some are just bigger than others :wave:
the reason I asked was because a bird I shot sat. had a fan [27''] that was 4'' bigger than the few fans I have saved. all came from nice birds w/ long beards and spurs...this bird weight 17.75 lbs which is heavy for s. fl. this late in the mating season. his spurs were 1 1/2 ''......the strange part was that he only sported a very thin 7'' beard.
I killed a gobbler about 9 years ago that was a two year old, had a 9.25" beard and 3/4' spurs only weighed 13lbs (was killed the last week of VA's season) and his fan was not much bigger than an adult hens. I guess he was the runt of the litter! My first gobbler had the biggest fan of any turkey I have killed. He was a two year old as well.
We measure a lot of our birds fans and they've ranged from 26-31 inches with no Ryme or reason from what we can tell.
Quote from: saltysenior on April 04, 2011, 01:49:54 PM
searched but found no answers ....... we all know about measuring beards and spurs.....what would be a "trophy''measurement for the width of the fan???
Looks like 29" or greater would be a fair estimate. :icon_thumright:
i should have said i was asking about Osceola birds...measured some others and made a few telephone calls.....biggest i found was 27 1/2'' wide...
In 2008 I was lucky enough to take a Florida Registry Osceola. Bird had an 11 15/16" beard with 1 1/2" + spurs. It weighed 20#. The fan is 22". It hangs next to my first Osceola that doesn't have near the beard or spur length but has a fan of 26". It weighed about 17#. Fan width appears to be a wild card. A Kentucky Eastern hanging on the same wall measures 30". Never saw anyone bring this up before or ever taped fan widths.
Quote from: tennturkey1 on April 04, 2011, 03:35:49 PM
I have been asked that same question before. I sell fans to mount on decoys. Several of my buyers have asked me how big they were before they bought them. I only thought they were a full fan or a jake fan. Never thought about size. Not sure it makes any difference as to age but maybe to the weight or body size of the bird. Just my thoughts! :-\
Ronnie
Good point. The heavier birds I've killed seemed to have larger fans. I have a 25lb Eastern Fan that swallows the 17-21lb Eastern fans I have. I've never compared the diff subspecies.
Quote from: link=topic=6575.msg80719#msg80719 date=1302102986
I'm thinking we should start measuring snood length to determine whether a bird is a trophy or not.
:icon_thumright:
also count the longer main feathers in the tail...if any less or more than 18 its an oddity..seriously
G74,
Might as well add beard sprigs to it.