While I surely am no turkey expert that is for sure. I concider any turkey shot that is legal is surely a good turkey. I shot my first two turkeys this past spring and the fall before that my first turkey every and with my bow.. That one was a hen as the law here only allows you to shoot a fall turkey if you do not fill your first turkey tag..( spring/fall tag ) The fall bird can be any sex while the spring bird must be a bearded bird. I have seen numerous jakes with out any beards showing at all. Sometimes I will see four or five of these strutting with hens at once but no beards. I have also seen one last spring with his tail feathers all busted up and with three hens.. So I am not 100% sure on the rule of the bigger toms for as far as what exactly is going on that way.. I shot a decent tom last spring all by itself? That was my first spring bird and saw a couple of more decent toms all by themselves as well? So I am not sure if it was because the toms have already bred with the hens and was looking for more hens or what was going on.

My second bird was shot during our last week of the season. A bearded jake. Which I am guessing was at least a 2 year old as it had 1/2 inch spurs and my tom was prolly a 3 year old with 1 inch spurs. I am not sure though. I also think what they are eating will make up for some of the size different. Here in my area there really is not a lot of farms so they tend to eat from the fields and nuts in the fall from the woods.. During the winter months I am guessing mostly buds from the trees. So a big bird in this area is bound to be some what smaller than down state where there is more farmland. So I think that the size is can vary based on this factor as well.. But again any bird taken legally is a good bird no matter where you are hunting..