AGEING TURKEYS?

[turkey slayer]

Don't let anybody talk you into trying a procedure that involves your pinky and the bird's anal vent.  It's not accurate. 

[turkey slayer]

Don't let anybody talk you into trying a procedure that involves your pinky and the bird's anal vent.  It's not accurate. 

Now we know how you got your name Stinkpickle

LOL!  Sure...yes...yes, we'll go with that.   

[Hognutz]

Don't let anybody talk you into trying a procedure that involves your pinky and the bird's anal vent.  It's not accurate.  

That's where I went wrong!! I supposed to use my pinky in the anal vent!! And next time I'm gonna wait until it's dead!! Danged spurs...

[HARDCORE]

After 2 there is not way to judge age by gobble, spurs or beard.  We had a beard and spurs from a known aged/tagged gobbler.   Everyone said 3 years.  It was 9 years old.  It had been caught as a jake, banded, and released.

Have you shared this information with Lovett?

If not, you should.

HC

[TNTOM]

I have always heard that spur length was the best indicator, but they are doing a study in Tennesse by trapping birds in the fall and tagging jakes with cattle tags in their wings. One year they used red tags, the next year yellow, etc. Then they recorded beard and spur length for each bird harvested in subsequent years. The study is ongoing, but from talking with the wildlife manager where they are doing the study, it seems that spur length is a general gauge, but there are exceptions - probably due to genetics. They found on more than one occassion mature birds that just had bumps as spurs. Beard length seemed affected by genetics too, but it also can be affected by blight that causes it to rot off and breaking. That is the long answer. The short answer is that spur length offers little more than an educated guess.

I heard about the same study and birds killed during the same season from the same group of tagged jakes had spurs that ranged between 3/4" and 1 1/4". 

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

But there is 100% truth to this:

If he has serious hooks, he is a grand daddy.

You can take that to the bank.

[Houndstooth Game Calls]

That's why I pull there jaw bones and get them aged! Haha

[hookedspur]

Don't let anybody talk you into trying a procedure that involves your pinky and the bird's anal vent.  It's not accurate. 

                          Sounds like experience speaking .

[bbcoach]

Thanks for the responses Guys.  After the jokes and laughs from the anal cavity story and input from each of you, I guess I can conclude that there really isn't any definite answer as to the correct age of a particular turkey, past two years old.  Thanks Again. 

[HogBiologist]

After 2 there is not way to judge age by gobble, spurs or beard.  We had a beard and spurs from a known aged/tagged gobbler.   Everyone said 3 years.  It was 9 years old.  It had been caught as a jake, banded, and released.

Have you shared this information with Lovett?

If not, you should.

HC

This is just from personal OTJ experience.  When we are doing our Gobbler Mortality Study, we get measurements on the weight, beard lgt, and sput lgt.  We ID them as either Jake or Adult.

[HARDCORE]

This is just from personal OTJ experience.  When we are doing our Gobbler Mortality Study, we get measurements on the weight, beard lgt, and spur lgt.  We ID them as either Jake or Adult.

Would you mind if I share your findings with Dr. Lovett?

HC

[HogBiologist]

You can if you wish.  I dont know all the specifics about the bird.  We had a turkey related meeting and the spurs and beard were on the table. We all looked at it.  It was like a 9 inch beard and either 3/4 or 1 inch spurs.  It had been banded as a jake then released.  It was killed as a 9 year old.  In all my years of trapping turkeys, when we banded them it was always a jake or adult.  I am sure there are ways to be slightly more accurate, but i have never needed to use them.  Spurs wear different in different areas (like deer teeth) and beards break off.  Beards and spurs are not a good way to age at all.

[El Pavo Grande]

Not totally accurate after 2 years old.

TRKYHTR

I agree.