Longest hooks??

[WVhuntEER]

Here is one of mine from 2011

[birdyhunter]

Biggest bird, longest beard, longest spurs. little over 29lbs, 11 3/4 beard, 1 3/4 spurs..

That is incredible. Thats the whole package. Even the feet are incredible.
Keep the pics coming guys.
Does anyone actually know if there is any correlation between climates and spur growth.
I have shot some old birds up here in NY and have had nice spurs but not as impressive as any these.
This thread is going to get the pre season blood pumping.

I don't know about climate but i do know that terrain plays a major role in how spurs wear down. Turkeys in Florida typically keep their spurs long and sharp due to the fact that their is no real rocky hard terrain and birds that I killed in the mountains of NC usually wore their spurs down. I never killed a bird up their with any real impressive hooks.

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[WildTigerTrout]

Hunting the wily bird in the rocky terrain of the NC mountains of Pennsylvania you rarely see long hooks. My best bird had 1 1/4" spurs. They really keep them worn down here.

[kansas hooks]

My longest happens to be the one i will be picking up from the taxidermist here in a couple of weeks.  He had 1 3/4 spurs.  Shot him on the next to last day of the season.  Will try and post pictures of him when i get him back.

[ziggy]

this one here had some pretty good hooks.  this was just one of our local neighborhood birds, so i couldn't bring myself to shoot him.




the longest i've killed were 1.5", and ironically was one of the easiest hunts i've ever been on.  he was fired up that morning and came right to me.  i have pics somewhere, but i'd have to dig to find them.

[mikejd]

Biggest bird, longest beard, longest spurs. little over 29lbs, 11 3/4 beard, 1 3/4 spurs..

That is incredible. Thats the whole package. Even the feet are incredible.
Keep the pics coming guys.
Does anyone actually know if there is any correlation between climates and spur growth.
I have shot some old birds up here in NY and have had nice spurs but not as impressive as any these.
This thread is going to get the pre season blood pumping.

I don't know about climate but i do know that terrain plays a major role in how spurs wear down. Turkeys in Florida typically keep their spurs long and sharp due to the fact that their is no real rocky hard terrain and birds that I killed in the mountains of NC usually wore their spurs down. I never killed a bird up their with any real impressive hooks.

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That makes sense. My birds are up and down the rocks all day long. 1 1/4 biggest for me. most are a bit blunt.

[captin_hook]

Awsome pics fellas. Some mighty fine hooks!

[Deputy 14]

Must be nice. The best I've killed we're right at an inch and sharp as a pencil eraser. These mountain birds wear them off so ill never kill one with spurs like these.

[birdyhunter]

Must be nice. The best I've killed we're right at an inch and sharp as a pencil eraser. These mountain birds wear them off so ill never kill one with spurs like these.

never say never. You ever get an itch to hunt fl just let me know and I will be more than happy to help you get on some birds. I'm always looking for new places to hunt so maybe a swap could be in order one day.

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[birdyhunter]

Found another pic of one of my longer spurred birds. 1 7/16" also killed in Florida back in 2009.

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[birdyhunter]

And here are a couple I can't find the kill pics of. Not sure on length but probably both pushing 1 1/2. I'll have to measure them.

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[appalachianstruttstopper]

Mountain turkeys do grow great spurs in places. I have killed several pointed limb hangers over the years here in south west Virginia, but I also have killed old birds with spurs nubbed and broken from rocks and rough terrain. Cattle farm birds bring some of the best spurs around here.

[longspur]

My longest are 1 5/8. Can someone explain to me exactly how a turkey wears his spurs down on rocks. For the life of me I just can't picture it. If they were sticking out the side maybe. If he's standing on the rock and scratching under it I guess.I thought the latest studies show that spur length is genetic. I have an uncle that hunts the swamps in Fla. and south Ga. and his spur collection looks just like mine. Some short and blunt, some long and sharp and some broken. I'm not trying to start an argument here I just get in a state of confusion when I try to picture a turkey rubbing his spur on a rock. Even if he's climbing rocks.

[canadatom]

My biggest to date are 1 3/8". Shot May 13th 2008. Hunted bird for three weeks and could not get him to commit to coming in as he always had 6 hens with him. Finally I had to try a full strut decoy and he saw that and left his hens and ran in to chase off intruder, that was where it all ended for him.

[Basin_hunter]

1 3/8'', shot March 21, 2011 on public land in Louisiana.