How can you tell how old a bird is? What are the different age groups?

[Magdump]

I have seen some posts discussing certain traits of 2 1/2 year old birds and it got me thinking, how would I know for sure such a bird in the field or if I was holding one? 

Please turkey masters, describe the behaviors and physical traits of various age groups of male turkeys that we new hunters need to be aware of and understand.  This will us new guys understand when is a bird considered mature, when is a bird no longer a jake, etc. 

[LaLongbeard]

Visually the tail fan is one of the ways to determine a jake(bird born in the summer before the next spring season) the middle feathers will be longer than the rest of the fan on a jake. A full fan is a 2 year old or better. Beards are another visual identifier but beards can be broken off short so beard alone is not a sure bet. When you get one in hand the jakes will have small nubs were the spurs will be,a 2 year old should have 1/2" to 3/4" spurs but can be longer after 2 it's hard to be 100% certain of age the spurs get longer as the birds age but can be worn down in rocky terrain or even broken off. Lovett Williams wrote several books on the life habits and specifics of the turkey and different subspecies he was one of if not the foremost expert any of his books have a wealth of knowledge and will answer all the questions.

[dzsmith]

nothing is truly certain. That is the only fact about a turkeys age. Of course you will hear as they get older they gobble less...a pressured enough 2 year old can be as tight lipped at any other super pressured bird. if hes had enough close calls, he will adapt to the only thing he knows. On the other side of that coin. ive personally given a bird close call, after close call, after close call, and they continue to gobble and act normal until I finally kill them. and that's birds of various ages.  generally you can assume pressured turkeys will be wary......Here is some things we do know, beard length does not represent age 90% of the time. Im including the 90% for the fact that I think we know that jakes generally have a little short stub non dropped beard, and even on occasion depending on genetics, and hatch time they can get long enough to be legal in states where birds with beards less than 6" are illegal. spur length does not represent age, ill just throw this out there 50% of the time. I believe can assume most of the a bird with buttons on his leg is a jake. and a bird with 3/4" spurs is probably a 2 year old ...I said probably. There have been full grown, 11" beard ,20lb birds killed that still had buttons for spurs or no spurs at all. but generally ....we all assume if the spurs are 1" or longer hes at least 3 years old. Now heres the hard part.....we are only 50% at best sure about age at this point...anything over that is unpredictable. sure I would say its safe to assume a bird with1.5" spurs is old. 4 years old maybe older...but there is no gurantee a bird 3 years old or older will ever get spurs 1.25" much less 1.5"....I killed a public land bird last year...that never gobbled...and had a horrible beard 9" long but only a few strands. he had 1 3/16" spurs and weighed 13lbs......The lightest full grown gobbler ive ever harvested in my own state. However, I cape all myturkeys out and put them on the wall. He had the largest fan in width and individual feather length of any bird on my wall from any state. I personally believe that was a very old bird at the end of his life. I killed him the third day of the season, so he should have been at his heaviest weight for the spring season...so with all that said.....there just really is no assertion of age. one of the first birds as a kid I killed by myself, never gobbled once out of the dozen times I hunted him. if you called his 2 hens would come in and he would disappear. I finally ambushed him, and waited for him one afternoon and he walked right in front of me. He had 5/8" spurs and an 8" beard. weighed 15lbs.....no doubt a 2 year old....but you would have thought by his behavior he was old and smart...

[g8rvet]

Simple. 

If I kill them, they are young and dumb.  If I do not, they are old and smart. 

I think the two above pretty much nailed it. 

[Magdump]

Thanks!  You guys are the best!

Thanks or the literature suggestion also.  I just ordered all of Mr. Williams's books from his website and can't wait to get them so I can really accelerate my learning! 

[LaLongbeard]

Wow that's a lot of reading .....but you just made a valuable investment in your turkey hunting future there was probably no one that had more experience and knowledge of the wild turkey. Lovett also made several cds with all the vocalizations of the wild turkey recorded and explained. His books go into great detail with pictures on the ways to age Gobblers including beard tip color etc. based on hundreds if not thousands of observations.

[fallhnt]

This is NOT a longbeard.

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[TauntoHawk]

This is NOT a longbeard.

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Lol what a rope

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[BTH]

If he comes in full roll gobbling and on his own with a full fan he's old enough in my book. If there are 2 gobblers I always pick the strutter.

I look at leg bone thickness and spur length more than anything else when cutting the spurs off. I have seen longbearded huge fan birds with no spurs as well. Same goes for the beard especially if he has been  breeding hard. Also a tail fan that starts at the 7:00 position and goes all the way over to the 5:00 position and is 100% symetrical leads me to believe 3yr old or better. Tall oval fans tend to be 2yr olds. Long feathers in the middle definitely Jake. I have seen these Jake birds full roll gobble and hold strut for a good while. However, they have 1 or 2 buddies with em.  Always pays to give a good look before pulling the trigger.

[MK M GOBL]

I see a full fan and game on!

I choose not to shoot jakes, I have had plenty of other young, new hunters that I encourage to shoot a jake (get their first bird) and from there make their own choice just as anyone else makes that choice. As far a "mature" can be a hard one to call, a jake can breed a hen... I have killed gobblers with short spurs and long spurs, can't guess I have ever passed up one with a full fan. And there are some general characteristics that have been discussed, at most a best guess as an age. Just like with most critters I believe genetics, terrain, geography and diet all play in that game of beard, spur and weight.

I age class as such

Jakes
2 Year olds
Mature


MK M GOBL

[shaman]

For any beginning hunter,  don't worry about trying to judge a 2 yr old from a mature gobble.  If it has a good beard and a mature tail, shoot it.  You hear all this stuff about field judging turkeys. It's largely hooey.  A mature gobbler may have a 8 inch beard a 2 year old may have a 10 inch beard.   After a turkey comes of age, a lot of stuff can happen to the beard to cause it to be shorter than ideal-- nutrition, fighting, etc. 

Behavior is not going to tell you much. The first gobbler I ever bagged on my own was a record book multi-bearded monster, but he came in like a lovesick 2 year old. 

Jakes are fairly easy to figure out-- thin bodies, thin legs, no beard and the funky tail.

[Marc]

Jakes are fairly easy to figure out-- thin bodies, thin legs, no beard and the funky tail.

I am hunting Rios in rocky and sometimes steep country...  Spurs generally get broken off and are not generally as big as other areas of the country.  Often you can tell the difference of young spurs that have not grown, and older spurs which have been chipped by color, diameter, and shape though.

My first bird was a jake with an 8" beard...  I thought I was shooting a mature bird until I saw the tail fan (after I shot).  I have killed mature birds with short beards, and have seen mature birds in which the beard was completely missing.  Generally, it seems that the bears grow rather quickly in my area, and some 2 year-olds have some long thick beards...

Generally, I have made the assumption that the tail fan is the best indicator...  Full even fan, mature bird; longer fan in the middle is a jake.

Apparently with some sub-species and in some areas, you can age younger birds by their gobble...  I have not been able to do this... 

I do believe that context can be helpful though.  I have found that if there are one or two birds gobbling with a bunch of hens squawking, I would expect older birds...  If there are a bunch of birds gobbling and I do no hear hens, I might think I have a bachelor group of jakes....

[guesswho]

If he has 1 1/2" Spurs he's older than two.  If he has 3/4" spurs, he may or may not be older than two.

[SD_smith]

Anybody that has spent enough time out west in either the Black Hills or the Rockies know that it is nearly impossible sometimes to tell the 2 yr and older from the jakes. The rough winters, rocky terrain, and possibly genetics don't produce big beards and big spurs a lot of the times. We've shot many birds that wouldn't strut and virtually had no beard then they turned out to be at least 2 if not older. Tail fan is the most sure fire way of knowing if its a jake or not. Now we do get birds that have decent beards and spurs but out here they both tend to gobble pretty decent and best to just hope he struts or pass on them.

[Treerooster]

One other way to tell a tom from a jake is the wing patch. It is less developed on a jake, not as big or full. Takes the right situation to see it, but it can be one other clue for you.