TURKEY AGE

[30/06]

For me I’d rather have a hard gobbling younger adult bird than a silent bird you have to bushwhack or deer hunt. I could care less really if they are 2,3, 4 or otherwise. Don’t really care about beards or spur length either though I do want to mount one and am waiting on one with a paint brush beard.

Not really much of a trophy with a turkey, my best hunt ever was an ugly bird with a cork screw 7 inch beard that gobbled the whole way in and put on a show.

 

[Wv67]

They all taste good , and are fun to hunt some are easy some are harder to trick , I just live and love to hunt the spring chicken it’s a blessing in its self hunting is hunting size don’t matter to me with horns or beards I’m after memories and what ever the experience that day brings I’m out to be impressed in my experience not to impress anyone else , If I wanted to kill big horns like the so called pros I could with out a doubt but it’s not an experience I’m after And I don’t see it being any more rewarding IMO

 

[Aaron H]

I would even throw out that 2 year old gobblers have a reputation of gobbling a lot more than older birds. That might be correct but a few of the biggest gobblers that I and my brother have taken were very vocal. Some were reluctant to come to a call but answered every time we called and took a long morning to bring into shotgun range. Maybe a 2 year old is more vocal but I myself would not age a gobbler based on that. In the end, I'm always very pleased to take a full fanned bird and I don't worry too much whether he's 2 or 4.

 

[oldest school]

"Feel free to say your turkey is any age your audience will believe"
I think that is what we should all use .

From a Missouri Department of conservation article on aging one by it's spurs

How Old Is My Turkey?

Surely one of the things that causes most head scratching among turkey hunters is the question of how old a particular gobbler is.

mdc.mo.gov

 

[Helium]

I killed a 10 year old bird that I hunted for 12 years?

 

[hawglips]

I would even throw out that 2 year old gobblers have a reputation of gobbling a lot more than older birds. That might be correct...Maybe a 2 year old is more vocal but I myself would not age a gobbler based on that. In the end, I'm always very pleased to take a full fanned bird and I don't worry too much whether he's 2 or 4.

Since I hunt for the rush, not the measurements, age isn’t a pre shot concern of mine at all.

But I’ve never seen any real evidence that two year olds actually gobble more. I’ve seen lots of evidence that they are more timid though.

 

[TravisSouth]

I killed a 10 year old bird that I hunted for 12 years?

Haha sounds like the shows nowadays- "Chasing this buck for 3 years"... but the buck is no more than 5 years old.

 

[wolfman]

I still laugh when people on a hunting show age gobblers like they do deer. I saw one recently where the guy claimed it was a 2 1/2 year old gobbler. I'm pretty sure that bird wasn't born in November.