Another spur question

[Shootstuff4570]

I got another question about spurs. whats the average length of spurs for every age, like whats the length when there 1 year old, 2 years old..and so on?
also i was jus curious as to whats the longest you've ever heard of spurs getting?

[old longbeards]

shootstuff...spurs cant be figured like that....one of my two year old birds may only have an inch and a quarter spurs but the same age bird in florida could be up to another half inch longer...depends on the terrain they hold in...New York has a lot of rock and stone...they may wear much more whereas Florida has sandy soils

[mouthcaller]

This is straight out the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency's spring turkey hunting regulations and guidlines:

Measuring a turkey spur: spur length is measured in a straight line from the middle of the spur where it meets the leg to the tip of the spur.

1 year........ 1/2" or less
2 years...... 1/2" to 7/8"
3 years...... 7/8" to 1.0"
4 years + .. 1" or more

[Mr. Longbeard]

ORIGINAL: old longbeards

shootstuff...spurs cant be figured like that....one of my two year old birds may only have an inch and a quarter spurs but the same age bird in florida could be up to another half inch longer...depends on the terrain they hold in...New York has a lot of rock and stone...they may wear much more whereas Florida has sandy soils

I have to disagree with this one... Lovett Williams is concidered a expert on wild turkeys and he says pretty much what mouthcaller says... And he's from FL

[Adrian J Hare]

The measurements that most go by and this has to be taken into some consideration for some soal differences at times.

One year old or less 1/4 - 1/2
2 year old 1/2 - 3/4
3 year old 3/4 - 1in
4 year old 1in - 1 1/4
5 year old 1 1/4 - 1 3/8
6 year old over 1 3/8

The wild turkey has a life span of about 5 -6 year of age...BT

[old longbeards]

wow...cool guys...thanks for this post....seems we old longbeards arent too old to learn more huh?....thanks Mr. Longbeard and Adrian

[Shootstuff4570]

thanks guys, thats just what i was looking for!

[maytom]

Mytake on spur lengthis this: anything over 1" in length is a guess at best at the birds age. If a 1" spur indicates a 3 year old turkey, and most birds don't live to be 4-5 years old in the wild due to predation, disease, or being shot by a hunter, how can someone actually say that a bird is 4-5-6 years old by spur length alone? Some birdsgrow long spurs, like some grow long beards. Genetic's comes into play here as well.

[old longbeards]

Sorry to revisit this post again to make a statement, and please understand, i'm not looking to start an argument. But i've read a couple of harvest stories on the board and the comments as well and still have the same confused age descriminations by the length of spurs.
As much as i respect everyones skills and opinions, i have a hard time realizing that most of the birds i'm scouting (many with spurs more than an inch) are an average age of, At the very least three years old and at the very most five years old...hmmm
Here's a few posts that seem to contradict that theory of spur length as proof of age.

* dont leave to fast (post by 700bdl870exp) 23lbs 9 1/2" beard and
1"spurs

* Thank god for 2 year olds and green fields (post by Mr.Longbeard)

*17.9 lbs, 10 inch beard and 1 inch (hook curved) spurs. (post by
RyanTucker)

*Congrats on the public land 3 year old (post by Mr. Longbeard)

Again, sorry if i upset anyone, wasnt meant to, just raised more questions. I wish turkeys had teeth......we could then age them like deer...lol...