Old Gobbler?

[jims]

For those of you that "trophy" hunt gobblers what characteristics do you look for in an older aged tom?  I imagine large head and body size...but it may be somewhat tough to tell if it's a single tom with hens?  I imagine it may be possible to estimate hook length with a pair of good binos or spotting scope?  I am guessing that older toms often have a white head?  Anything else you guys use for judging larger, older toms?

[TauntoHawk]

Any tom can have a white head. When multiple birds are coming in generally the dominant bird will be the bird that does the most strutting but the dominant bird is not always the biggest spurred bird. You can size them up by body size but again this doesn't translate to big spurs or big beard either necessarily.

The only way to truly trophy hunt a bird is through lots of scouting, and I do know guys that spend lots of time behind a spotting scope pre season looking for big birds with the spurs and beard to match.

One of the great things about turkey hunting is just go enjoy the hunt for what it is and you don't really know what class bird you got until you roll him over. The trophy hunting deer craze has taken something away from the pure pursuit in my mind.

[born2hunt]

One of the great things about turkey hunting is just go enjoy the hunt for what it is and you don't really know what class bird you got until you roll him over. The trophy hunting deer craze has taken something away from the pure pursuit in my mind.

Totally agree,  if he gets your ticker ticking than put him down and be proud of him.

[stinkpickle]

Yep, the best thing about turkey hunting is that it ain't deer hunting. 

[chatterbox]

Yep, the best thing about turkey hunting is that it ain't deer hunting. 

What stinky said........
My only standard on a gobbler is a full fan. That tells me he is a mature bird, and when he is in my wheelhouse, I will put him in the dirt.
Spurs and beard length are just icing on the cake. Quality of hunt far outweighs the other factors.

[silvestris]

Age is the key factor in judging the quality of a turkey  and other than the nature of his gobble and spur length I know of no way to judge an ancient one.  Years ago, a gentleman brought in a gobbler of which he was ashamed.  The turkey weighed about 13 pounds.  I can't remember the beard length but it was pencil thin and nothing was remarkable insofar as length.  The Spurs were long, but I don't think we measured them.

Both Kenny Morgan and myself thought the bird to be the finest gobbler we had ever seen because of its apparent old age.  The turkey came from our lease and we were amazed that neither of us was aware of his existence.  Kenny and I discussed this turkey up until Kenny's death.  The turkey was killed in the early 1980s.

Both Kenny and I believed that personality was the proper measure of a turkey's worth.  Obviously, the finest gobbler had a very reticent personalty.

[jims]

Here's another question along the same lines.  How do you tell a tom's age?  From what I understand older toms have a few additional main feathers on their wings (the feathers that are barred with white on them)?  I imagine longer hooks mean older tom?  If I have a spotting scope and look close I may be able to count feathers and possiby tell whether a tom has 1 vs 1 1/2" hooks but I have a pretty tough time telling many of them apart!  It seems like some guys can one quick look at a tom and tell if they are older?  How the heck do you do this?

[owlhoot]

Yep, the best thing about turkey hunting is that it ain't deer hunting. 

100 percent agree with that.

[10gaugemag]

Hooks. But I don't trophy turkey hunt. If I get up at 4am and walk up a steep hill, sit around on the ground, work my arse off to get a bird standing around at 30 yards waiting to be killed he ain't walking because of short spurs.
My longest beard, 12 3/4" came from a tom with 3/4" spurs and only went 17#.  I did get to watch my nephews first bird come 300 yards across a corn field and got to see those 1 5/8" hooks from a long way out.  . Bird had it all, 26#, 12" rope and those hooks, other than my first bird that one has excited me the most.

Every bird is a trophy to me.

[Dtrkyman]

I pass jakes, all other toms get it!

[TauntoHawk]

Here's another question along the same lines.  How do you tell a tom's age?  From what I understand older toms have a few additional main feathers on their wings (the feathers that are barred with white on them)?  I imagine longer hooks mean older tom?  If I have a spotting scope and look close I may be able to count feathers and possiby tell whether a tom has 1 vs 1 1/2" hooks but I have a pretty tough time telling many of them apart!  It seems like some guys can one quick look at a tom and tell if they are older?  How the heck do you do this?

You can only age to 3yr old after that it's guess work.

Jake, step fan, short beard, and nub spurs

2yr old, full fan, amber in beard, roughly 3/4 in rounded spurs.

3yr old, full fan, jet black beard, 1+ Spurs.

You can judge that bigger spurs means an older bird but an old bird won't necessarily have giant spurs. They often wear them down or break them off. 1.5in spurs and you got a trophy anyway you slice it

[contagious]

My best bird was shot at 4.30 pm in the afternoon.He looked bad all beat up and only weighed 14.5 lbs,didn't gobble at all. Came in to some soft calling, strutting and drumming.Had 1 5/8' spurs neddle sharp with a big curve to them. I would guess him to be 4 or 5 year old.!!Nothing to look at ,but "O MAN" what a set of hooks.!!  I think he was just old and wore out , like me.! LOL

[Kylongspur88]

One of the great things about turkey hunting is just go enjoy the hunt for what it is and you don't really know what class bird you got until you roll him over. The trophy hunting deer craze has taken something away from the pure pursuit in my mind.

I totally agree.

[dutch@fx4]

This is part of the reason I like to use a full strut tom decoy .I look for the most aggressive tom in the woods the one that comes running in a jumps right on the decoy knocking it right off the stake ;I have had this happen a lot of times and there is nothing like it ,when you see a tom show him self in the field and he looks over and see s the decoy he just tips over and runs right at the decoy ,that is what turkey hunting is to me ,no messing around .it may scare of a few birds every year but pretty boy hunts with me almost every hunt ,Dutch