FAN SIZE

[saltysenior]

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??? 

[WyoHunter]

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. 

[busta biggun]

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 

[saltysenior]

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. 

[trkehunr93]

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.

[TauntoHawk]

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.

[WyoHunter]

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. 

[saltysenior]

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...

[joey46]

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.

[Reloader]

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.

[gobbler74]

I'm thinking we should start measuring snood length to determine whether a bird is a trophy or not.

also count the longer main feathers in the tail...if any less or more than 18 its an oddity..seriously

[Reloader]

G74,

Might as well add beard sprigs to it.