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Post by hoosier on Apr 26, 2010 15:47:26 GMT -5
What age should a Tom wearing 31 mm spurs be? Any links to a chart would be helpful too.
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Post by throbak on Apr 26, 2010 15:49:24 GMT -5
3 -plus
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Post by vectrix on Apr 26, 2010 17:28:05 GMT -5
How long in inches were they? My bird at the check had 31mm spurs on the plunger tool, when I got home 1 measured 1.25 or 1 1/4 and the other a click longer. Good question though I have always been told spurs are the best way to judge age on a bird. Some of the birds I have seen on here are weighing way over 20 but have short spurs and beards. What if any correlation to the whole weight, beard and spur to age is there?  |
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Post by greghopper on Apr 26, 2010 17:37:00 GMT -5
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Post by freedomhunter on Apr 26, 2010 17:41:40 GMT -5
at least 3 year old in most places Indiana, further south you go the more pure eastern and longer spurs
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Post by Woody Williams on Apr 26, 2010 17:45:27 GMT -5
3, possibly a 4 year old.
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Post by vectrix on Apr 26, 2010 17:52:08 GMT -5
I saw on the links greghopper posted that a darker thicker beard is another way to tell? what do you think about that?
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Post by swilk on Apr 26, 2010 18:53:59 GMT -5
I believe spurs and spurs alone tell the age. just my opinion ....
Jakes have nubs.... 2 year old birds have lengths in the teens to low twenties ..... 3 year old and older have 25mm+ length.
I think after 3 years old is where it gets kind of fuzzy .... kind of like deer.
Last year a guy killed a bird that had 48mm spurs..... them are some hooks.
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Post by vectrix on Apr 26, 2010 19:16:15 GMT -5
48mm, wow! He didn't fly up to roost, just gaffed the tree up to roost.
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Post by swilk on Apr 26, 2010 19:57:23 GMT -5
I bet he was one mean sob in a fight.
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Post by gobblerstopper on Apr 26, 2010 20:59:11 GMT -5
Beards grow 5" a year. They wear off from dragging the ground, ice accumulation and so forth. There is not correlation between beard length and age after a bird reaches two years old. Jakes are the only way to tell and even then, some have better beards than others.
Weight is not a determining factor either. Gobblers, like bucks, loose a lot of weight during the breeding season because they would rather strut than eat. I killed a 14 lb. two year old a couple of years ago and a 27 lb two year old a couple of years before that.
I've never heard of easterns having longer spurs because they are more pure eastern in the south. It's interesting and I'd like to know what our birds are mixed with that makes them less pure. Since most of our birds came from Kentucky around here and they came from Arkansas and Missouri to get to Kentucky, I'm not sure what they would mean?
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Post by ridgerunner on Apr 26, 2010 21:18:55 GMT -5
Beards grow 5" a year. They wear off from dragging the ground, ice accumulation and so forth. There is not correlation between beard length and age after a bird reaches two years old. Jakes are the only way to tell and even then, some have better beards than others. Weight is not a determining factor either. Gobblers, like bucks, loose a lot of weight during the breeding season because they would rather strut than eat. I killed a 14 lb. two year old a couple of years ago and a 27 lb two year old a couple of years before that. I've never heard of easterns having longer spurs because they are more pure eastern in the south. It's interesting and I'd like to know what our birds are mixed with that makes them less pure. Since most of our birds came from Kentucky around here and they came from Arkansas and Missouri to get to Kentucky, I'm not sure what they would mean? I agree 110%..The older birds tend to wiegh less if anything..spurs are the best way to judge age..31mm on an eastern bird, at least 3 probably 4yr old. |
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Post by freedomhunter on Apr 27, 2010 7:58:41 GMT -5
Beards grow 5" a year. They wear off from dragging the ground, ice accumulation and so forth. There is not correlation between beard length and age after a bird reaches two years old. Jakes are the only way to tell and even then, some have better beards than others. Weight is not a determining factor either. Gobblers, like bucks, loose a lot of weight during the breeding season because they would rather strut than eat. I killed a 14 lb. two year old a couple of years ago and a 27 lb two year old a couple of years before that. I've never heard of easterns having longer spurs because they are more pure eastern in the south. It's interesting and I'd like to know what our birds are mixed with that makes them less pure. Since most of our birds came from Kentucky around here and they came from Arkansas and Missouri to get to Kentucky, I'm not sure what they would mean? idk, just my observations after years of hunting South-Central Kentucky and here, I'm not a biologist, some of our birds look different (lighter tail fan tips and short fat spurs) |
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