Strut&Rut

If you can see the spurs on a turkey and he hasn't gone into strut, from say 15 yards, and his beard appears to be a "stubby"...

do you think he's a mature bird?

I just wonder because I had what I thought was a jake, who was with 7 other definite jakes, exhibit some dominance although he never went into strut and had ~5" beard. His beard was longer by an inch or two, and as he was leaving at about 15 paces, I could easily distinguish his spurs, although they looked rounded. However, I could not see spurs on the other birds, but I was still reluctant to squeeze the trigger because of his beard length and the fact he never once went into strut in front of 2 hen dekes...

I've been wondering ever since if he was, or could have been, a mature tom with a rotted beard. I know from my experiences that oftentimes I cannot distinguish the spurs on jakes, even when that close...

Any comments/thoughts?

Arrowmaster

I had the same thing happen last year. I squeezed the trigger though. I saw his spurs and they were longer than a Jakes spurs. Not by much but his spurs gave him away.