My first gobbler has a 10 inch beard 1 inch spurs and his tail measures 30 inches across. Is he a nice one or just average?

A ten inch beard is a good one and one inch spurs are as well. What did your bird weigh?

Most longbeards average in the 8.5 to 10" range. You really can't account to much on beards but the longer the better. Anything over 10" and you've got something but long spurs are where it's at. Anything over an inch and a half is really something. My best bird went 22 lbs and had an 11" beard with 1.5 and 1.25 inch spurs.

sounds like a good bird.......

Sounds nice...We usually go by weight around here, then beard & spur length.

If he has a beard and goes gobble gobble, he's a nice bird. Anyway, 10 inch beard and 1 inch spurs is very good. I'm guessing he's a 2 or 3 year old that weighs 20 or 21 pounds.

the older the bird, the more it usually scores and this is due to spur length. Spurs are the biggest factor in determining "trophy" status. I think visually both the beard length and it's thickness gives credibilty to how nice a turkey is. I think weight is most definitley a factor but I'd take the 12 inch beard or 1.5 inch hooks on a light bird over a 25 lb 2 yr old.

The fan size does not factor into score but I think a nice big full fan sure makes it a "big one" like you said. That's the thing most of us display and look at yet it holds no bearing on the score.

Having said all that.....YES, HE'S A BIG ONE! You shot a mature gobbler. period. that is awesome.

it's funny I never measured the tail fan like you did. I just measured some of mine and the avg seems to be about 29-30. My biggest is just about 33 inches and came from a 25 lb 3 yr old. jake fan I have in the office is 26 inches.

Thats a pretty nice gobbler... Did you get him down south some were???

Congrats. Sounds like a fine bird to me...

Noper, that's a PA bird in 2004 and here he is as a mount.