Aging gobblers

[drenalinld]

I read on here a while ago where a guy could age the gobbler before he shot it by the sound of the gobble. I personally have never been able to do that. I've taken the safety off for a gobbling Jake on many an occasion.

I find it easier to age them by the size of the white J left on the ground behind them.

[Jay]

This year I know for a fact that a friend of mine killed a 3-1/2 year old JAKE!!

I saw the pictures. ( Jay's 2nd Osceola)

So that right there is proof positive we are all full of Sh@t!

A TURKEY can never be aged in the field after the kill.

I really like it when science is applied and we all learn something on OLD GOBBLER.

Man, your punny 14# Toms aren't bigger than our Hens. You know both those Toms weren't Jakes I killed. They were Gobbling. EVERYONE knows Jakes don't gobble in Florida.

[mudhen]

Without tagging, it seems like there are only three age classes; jakes, probably two, and three or older 

Maybe four if you include spurless...

mudhen

[TRKYHTR]

I had a guy tell me this year he killed a fully mature Jake. Isn't that an oxymoron. My son just called him a moron. 

TRKYHTR

[WiLL B]

The more I have looked at and researched aging turkeys the less I know about it! And I been studying them 40 years!

[Houndstooth Game Calls]

If he comes in gobbling and has got a full fan hes old enough to no better!!!!--Lyle

[TRKYHTR]

I watched a gobbler that roosted literally 300 yards from my house, for 4 years. He was a longbeard the first year he started roosting there. So this year he was at least 6 years old. I decided he had lived long enough and he went on my hitlist. I killed him on April 2nd and he had 1 1/4" spurs. On April 3rd, the next day, I killed a gobbler in another area that had 1 5/8" spurs. I wonder how old he was?

TRKYHTR

[stinkpickle]

Personally, I believe the relationship between spur length and age slowly disappears somewhere around the 1 1/8" - 1 1/4" mark.  There are too many genetic and environmental factors involved.