Yesterday my 15 year old son called in and killed his second solo bird of the season. He decided he new enough to hunt by himself this year. The bird he killed was double bearded. It had a good thick 10 1/2" and small 7" beard. It weighed 19 1/2 pounds, full fan and absolutely no spurs on either leg. How many of you have ever killed or seen a gobbler with no spurs. I have been fortunate enough to kill quite a few birds over the years. I have been around a lot of turkeys in the past as I have mounted turkey fans for the public but this is the first spurless gobbler I have ever seen. What about y'all?
I've killed a few. I've also seen a few killed by others in the same area and they were also slick legged. I'm guessing it's just genetics as you could clearly see they didn't even have a bump. All were mature birds.
I've killed a couple with no spurs. A couple more slick on one leg, spur on the other. It's rare
Killed one this season with only 1 spur. There was a tiny little black bump where the other spur should have been.
Adult Merriam's from last week:
(http://i66.tinypic.com/2duw669.jpg)
only 2
I killed a Osceola last spring with no spurs
I've killed a couple with slick legs and my son killed one with 2 small bumps that looked like ant bites.
I killed a mature gobbler 3 or 4 years ago that didn't have any spurs.
Have killed a handful with no or just one spur. Not real common around here, which is a good thing.
I killed one in the fall that had no beard or spurs.
My brother in law and I shot two on adjoining farms within an hour of each other. Neither bird had spurs.
Killed a couple with no spurs and one that I can remember that only had a single the other leg was slick as a mink.
This seems to be fairly common, I called one in for a friend this year that had no spurs.
I've never seen one but I had a video of one strutting 3' from my pickup a few years ago. He wasn't afraid of me or my truck. He actually left hens to chase me down the road.
Called in a Kansas eastern for a buddy. Mature bird zero spurs. Just large scales where they would be
Killed one and saw one other with zero spurs, both were from the same general location in South Dakota. Only two I've seen.
Shot one bird year before last that had one spur and one healed over broken spur. Nothing left but the scar.
Thanks for the replies. It was kind of neat to see a bird with no spurs, but like someone else said, I hope I don't see it again. Especially since it was on my own land.
One time. 11" absolute rope...not even a nub on either leg.
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First gobbler I ever killed was on the national forest close to my house. Slick on one leg, and 1/2" on the other. I've killed a bunch of birds off that same area of the forest, and I've yet to see it again.
I called in a bird for a buddy a few years back that only had 1 spur
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