whats your idea of a trophy gobbler?

[A. Felix]

i agree with alot of you.  my 2 favorite birds to date are the one i killed this year (because of the difficulty and how he came in.  size was a bonus) and the bird i called in for my 11 year old cousin. it was only a 2 year old but it was his first bird ever.  it made me proud to be apart of it.

[guesswho]

what makes a bird a trophy?

The instant I decide to pull the trigger turns him into a trophy. 

But any of the below give him special recognition for me.

1 1/4" or more spurs!

20" or more of beard!

21 lbs. or bigger!

Takes three or more days of hunting to kill him!

[barry]

Any  bird I shoot is a trophy to me.
That being said, a nice set of long curved hooks is what makes me say "WOW!"

[Flydown]

[Nimrodmar10]

Okay guys, lets not get all wrapped around the axle on this Turkey scoring mess. First thing you know we'll be doing like the deer hunters. We'll have people farming turkeys and geneticly altering them for long spurs and beards and shooting them up with steroids to make them heavy. Then the rich guys will be paying thousands of dollars to shot the record book birds in really high high fence ranches. Then we're just one one jump from Turkey hunting tournaments and Turkey Masters or some such nonsense.

Any mature Turkey you call in and kill is a trophy. Period.

[guesswho]

Okay guys, lets not get all wrapped around the axle on this Turkey scoring mess. First thing you know we'll be doing like the deer hunters. We'll have people farming turkeys and geneticly altering them for long spurs and beards and shooting them up with steroids to make them heavy. Then the rich guys will be paying thousands of dollars to shot the record book birds in really high high fence ranches. Then we're just one one jump from Turkey hunting tournaments and Turkey Masters or some such nonsense.

Any mature Turkey you call in and kill is a trophy. Period.

Not that I dissagree, but why does it have to be mature to be a trophy?  That in itself is like a lot of hunters deer hunting mentality. 

[unclerick]

For me it is the hunt itself and the way a bird comes in, if he's not hot and I can get him interested enough to come take a look it is that much better. Long beards, sharp spurs and heavy are just the little extras that make it better.

[vaturkey]

[mikejd]

as the wise old hunter once said you can't eat the horns. well same goes for beard and spurs. although I am looking for a big old 1 1/2" set of spurs myself.

[Struttin Spurs]

If going by weight....24 pounds or more.
If going by beards....Mature gobbler with total of beards being over 20 inches.
If going by spurs.....over 1 inch is a good bird, but over 1.25 is a true trophy to me.

But like stated by so many people above, every bird is a trophy. They are so dang fun/hard to hunt that I have never regretted pulling the trigger on one. Even jakes.