What is the Oldest Tom You Have Known?

[JeffC]

Thank you Eggshell, always thought the longer the spur the older the bird, the 2nd Tom I killed , gobbled "old" it was almost a growl,  bird was thin, run down, 16 1/2 lbs , 11 3/8" beard, 1# 1 1/8 spur, 2nd spur rounded off, dominate bird, we chased for 2 plus hours, before he finished breeding his hen's and came looking for more. Always thought he was older.

[silvestris]

Loss of weight is a likely indicator of old age.  The finest/oldest gobbler I ever saw had a pencil beard and weighed 13 pounds, and I wished I had killed him.  The man who killed him is pictured on page 183 of Ken Morgan's "One Man's Game".  It took a while to convince him that he had killed a stud. We didn't know of the gobbler's existence.  There are some old gobblers out there that don't want there existence known.

[LaLongbeard]

But in the end who really gives a rat's behind!

Apparently you do lol.
I think part of it in the south is Jakes don't gobble often so a Gobbler is a 2+ year old. It's always been Jakes,Hens or Gobblers here in the south. Just an observation that the phrase tom was not used in the south until recently. If that upsets you or any other Yankee well that's just a bonus lol

[THattaway]

I've hunted one tom three years running on the Savanah river that I'm pretty sure is at least 6 now. He was a mature bird the first year I saw him, at least a three year old. No doubt it's the same bird, fairly consistent in the area he roosts, and should have killed him twice already except for twists of fate. That one is the oldest I know of at the moment.

We know of another in the mountains that I'd suspect is at least 5. Have had him in range for my son the last two seasons and he appeared to be a mature 3 year old tom the first time we saw him. Roosts on the side of one particular mountain and fairly regular. Land owner has many trail cam pics and knows him well, says he's far older than we think. Again, he should be dead already except for twists of fate but I will be toting a gun this season when we go after him.

I've hunted a few over the years similar to these in suspected age but it's not common (at least for me) to find one I can reasonably say is the same bird. I called one for a friend last year that I'd been hearing for the three previous seasons on public land but hadn't made a try at. He roosted across the river from an area I often hunt. A gravel road dead ends near the river bottom over there and that tom would go quiet the instant a truck drove down it, if no truck came in he'd freely roost gobble and on the ground. We probably hunted it different than the others who had tried him, got out in the flat and were a little less aggressive. We just stayed quiet letting him make the first move and about an hour after daylight he cranked up. I called him our way and when he strutted within 80 yards and spied Jolene he just folded up and ran right up friend's gun barrel. He ended up being quite an old warrior, a 21lb public land wooded river bottom turkey with 1 1/8" busted off spurs and only 3 toes on one foot. I'd say at least a 4 year old but who knows.


I spoke to a bird biologist via a taxidermy forum a few years ago who said turkeys molt spurs just like they do feathers. Said a spur with a wide band at the base is an indicator of a previous molt and that those occur around age 4. It's not uncommon to kill mature toms here with busted up rough ended spurs. Woods turkeys scratch out a living and are rough on spurs and nails. I've always just used spur length to predict an "at least __years old", 1"=3 years at least, 1"+= more like 4. Again, who really knows?

[eggshell]

I agree that if left alone to die of natural causes gobblers have the potential to live 7-10 years. I also think we all have known old birds we have chased. It's not that hard to figure them out when they do the same thing year after year. I have known a couple that had distinct physical traits that identified them, one I know lasted 4 seasons before I killed him. I typically have more older birds where I hunt as I have control over the turkey hunting and manage the harvest. I have one bird now that Is in his 3rd season of being charmed. I assume he was at least 2-3 when he first became a pain in the arse, so that makes him 5-6. I do target these birds and I usually kill them eventually, my average is 3 seasons to kill them. I know it's a luxury that many don't have to be able to have managed birds to hunt and I am grateful for the blessing. I had a bird last year that I wanted bad for three years and I took a good friend on him only to watch him cripple the bird, I was sick. I will defend my friend as he is a great turkey hunter and almost without exception puts birds down for good....it was just one of those days.

[Turkeyman]

I spoke to a bird biologist via a taxidermy forum a few years ago who said turkeys molt spurs just like they do feathers.

Sounds like a biologist that didn't pay attention in school, nor ever dissected a turkey leg

[GobbleNut]

I spoke to a bird biologist via a taxidermy forum a few years ago who said turkeys molt spurs just like they do feathers.

Sounds like a biologist that didn't pay attention in school, nor ever dissected a turkey leg

I won't state that there is not the occasional gobbler that somehow manages to lose part of a spur such that it looks like it was "molted", but turkey-gobbler spurs do not molt as a genetic or biological function.  End of discussion.

[eggshell]

Don't your toenails molt, Gobblenut? Oh while we're discussing things that molt.....I've been molting my hair for 35 yrs, when does it grow back?

[THattaway]

Molt may have been the term I used. Lose spur sheath may have been closer to what was said. I've molted enough hair to make a mistake or two from memory.

[Turkeyman]

I've molted enough hair to make a mistake or two from memory.

LOL I'm with you there. Re:spur caps I've gotten several birds that had a missing, or broken off, spur cap from flydown or such.

[Pressured Gobbler]

Life expectancy of a "WILD" turkey is 3-5 years... really unless this bird has some kind of distinctive markings I highly doubt it's the same bird... I always smh when I read about these stories of this old gobbler that roost in same tree every year...


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[GobbleNut]

Life expectancy of a "WILD" turkey is 3-5 years... really unless this bird has some kind of distinctive markings I highly doubt it's the same bird... I always smh when I read about these stories of this old gobbler that roost in same tree every year...

Clarifying your statement a bit:  I believe you are probably correct that the life expectancy of the average wild turkey that makes it to adulthood is around 3-5 years.  However, the life expectancy of wild turkeys overall,...that is, including hatched poults,...is considerably less than one year. 

Turkey mortality is "front-loaded".  That is, most die very early in life.  However, I believe most actual studies indicate that there are those "outlier" turkeys that live very long lives pretty much everywhere.

I also agree that many of the "the same gobbler roosted in the same tree for years" stories are speculative since we probably all have witnessed the tendency of turkeys to gravitate towards the same roosting areas generation to generation.  However, I also believe it is totally feasible that there are witnessed and verifiable cases where someone knew with certainty that a particular turkey  lived to be very old while staying in the same vicinity,...and even while being hunted with some regularity.

Personally, I believe I have known a few gobblers that fit that category,...and with some level of empirical justification for that belief.  You are right though,...without some real, hard evidence to support that assertion, it is always just a "belief". 

Ahhh, but that is what "Old Hermit Gobbler" legends are made of!...     

[eggshell]

Ahhh, but that is what "Old Hermit Gobbler" legends are made of!...   

Fishermen have nothing over turkeys hunters....after 30 years at a check station I have heard a million turkey hunt stories. Most of them are slightly exaggerated