AGEING TURKEYS?

[bbcoach]

I'm curious.  On several Hunting Shows and even on this site, people talk about the age of a Turkey that has been killed.  I've heard it's the length of the beard or the length of the spurs, but both of these can be shortened by being worn off in the dirt or rocks.  Weight isn't a good indicator either because that depends on food availability. Is there any Biological evidence that will show the age of a turkey or is it just individuals talking SMACK and making their Best Guess?

[TennLongspur]

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.

[TRKYHTR]

Not totally accurate after 2 years old.

TRKYHTR

[Dbrnmllr]

It's more of an art than a science, but spurs and feathers are of more use in aging than beard just because the beard is stepped on and broke off continuously.

http://ohiodnr.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=k%2Bm2wGyGrmQ%3D&tabid=19022

[TauntoHawk]

we try and make the best guess possible based on all those factors, you can usually get a pretty reasonable guess between whether a turkey is 1, 2, or 3 years old.. after that its a crap shoot.

[Rio Fan]

I can definitely tell how old a gobbler is based on its gobble.   

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

I totally agree;  best way is aging by gobble!

[stinkpickle]

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

[BigGobbler]

Most long beards are 2 or 3 years old They do not live any longer than that around here.

[vicksburg]

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

You just weren't doing it right!

[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.

[bbcoach]

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

[stinkpickle]

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.   

[contagious]

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.

BAM !!  and there it is.

[TennLongspur]

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