Did you keep a count of Long Beards taken?

[WV Flopper]

 I never kept a paper with numbers for 20 years. I did keep beards. Had a cat when I was a young chew on right at 25. Then later, Years, had another cat find some and do the same. Other than that I have 90% or better of the beards collected.

I have a few, and I want a bunch more.

[Cut N Run]

I quit counting several years ago.  I didn't keep spurs or beards to start with.  I've given two of my nephews spur necklaces, plus one of my own and have a few pairs loose, however many that is.  My best friend has a 2 gallon ziplock bag stuffed full of so many beards, it looks like a pillow.  No idea how many he's gotten, but it's quite a lot more than me.  He gets to hunt all over the place and has several world slams under his belt.  I've never hunted turkeys outside of a 10 county radius, but that's fine, just as long as I have places and time to keep pursuing that gobble.

I put notches on pot & box calls to keep track of how many birds each call has pulled in.  One retired pot has 26 notches (retired because it doesn't sound lively anymore), another has 12, and one in my vest has 6.  My current favorite box has 13 notches and the old Lynch I fell on & broke had several (20+ years ago, no idea how many) . I gave another sweet sounding box call to my best friend that had some on it as well. 
I had a guy (on another forum) take great offence with me about notching my calls and how it might affect the sound quality...Maybe it will, maybe it won't. I don't have any kids to pass them on to & they're certainly not museum pieces. They're my working calls and I'll notch 'em if I feel like it.

Jim

[WV Flopper]

 This will surprise some but I would bet money a two gallon bag would hold at least 1K of beards. Long beards.

Nice pillow

[runngun]

Pert neer close!!! ¿¿¿

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[neal]

Got every single beard from every gobbler I've ever killed.


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[quavers59]

     I wrote 128 on a above post- but could have had many more. I have taken 2 Female friends out a total for 7 Springs now and given away  my best early days including the opener.  One of my Sister's  accused  me of being too nice of a Guy. This Spring- one of those women with 4 Springs under her belt and 5 Gobblers that,I helped with wants to call one up on her own.
     That is great news to me! It was getting old AND TIRING walking around in late May when the Temps quickly reach the mid 80s.

[zelmo1]

Truth be said, I wish I could knock em down, take a few photo's, give him some smelling salt and watch him return back to his roost for another hunter to experience him. That would be wonderful....

This is so true, but dammit I love to eat them too. I just recently went over my mishmash of old notes and stories I have written down. My wife and I spent a few hours laughing and talking turkey. She told me to write them down and she would make a file for us to go back to. It was an afternoon well spent. I started to count when I was a new hunter but that was lost on the preparation and calls and all the other crap we get caught up in.I try to simplify as much as possible.

Where are they? At what time of the day?
How do I get to them without spooking them?
What is the basic gear I need to do this?
What time do I set my alarm for?

This is pretty much my mindset. KISS method. Z

[Bowguy]

I have zero idea. That stuff isn't important to me. Even if I could right now look into a crystal ball and see I'd prob not go over to it to look. What's more important is the memory of the kids, mine or someone else's, first birds. Much rather watch a video, see a pic of that than worry bout what I've done. In early 2000s a buddy of mine asked "how many birds I'd given away mentoring". Gotta be honest he had to press me to write it down but there were over 50 I could remember to write down. Who cares about that either. It's the memory of the kids and the smiles, high fives and hugs. The tearful look in mom's eye after we came home that matters boys. If we're past the beginning stages, help someone else on their way to numbers. It starts with number 1 and that's a big deal to that kid

[eggshell]

I agree there are many days I would like to revive an old gobbler and send him on his way, but we also enjoy eating them. No turkey has ever gone to waste in my household. Even when I was killing 6-10 a year they all were eaten. I even brought turkey meat home from out of state camps where guys killed them and didn't want the meat because they were traveling on to the next state.

I see the consensus is most of us don't count but many keep mementos in the form of beards/spurs/fans/journals. I think it is all great and part of enjoying the sport in the best manner for you. Counting is not a bad thing at all and I hope that is not the feelings here. What I do not like is a guy that uses numbers to brag and self-glorify himself and belittle others to bolster his weak ego. I think most of us call them slobs.

[Bowguy]

Most important to me is my Turkey log book. A scribble of memories, how, where, when, weather. This is information that brings back the memories, I go back to it often.

That's actually a good idea. The Wensels (stickbow guy) talk about it. I started on for my harvests/events of my daughter way back when. I have no idea where book went or when I'd stopped but is cool sentiment if I had it to give her

[deerhunt1988]

I even go as far as keeping the spent hull with each beard/spur and labeling the info of that turkey on the hull. I can pick up and set of beard/spurs and immediately relive that specific hunt.

[quavers59]

   I have also given up my very early Spring Turkey Hunting Days to help out my 2 Brother's in Law. That is 4 people total. I have 3 main Journals  that cover 1990 to 2023. And pictures of all of my Turkeys as well. Family Members down the line will be happy to get those Photo Albums.
    It is a big sacrifice to give away all my best early days  to give of myself and call Birds in for others. Not all veterans will do that.  Somehow with the Sweat pouring in Late May,I can still call them up and Kill them when out Hunting alone. It is all about helping others  when you get older.
   

[neal]

I've got every single beard from every gobbler I've ever killed. Either on the bird or on my display




Neal


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[eggshell]

That is a very cool trophy room for both of you. I enjoy seeing well thought out and cared for displays....good job guys. Mine was never that organized, when I had one.

[MS TurkeyHunter]

Not really anymore but i did when i was a kid coming up and things like that seemed important. Nowadays i just hunt and enjoy it regardless if i have a dead turkey or not. However, that dose not mean I'm slowing down anytime soon chasing after them!


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