Roadkillwarrior

I was wondering what you guys look at more in a trophy turkey. I personally dont care much about the beard, I like to see them long hooked spurrs. I have some hunting buddies that feel that exact opposite, they want to see a long beard and hope that they will get a bird with mutliple beards.

Mr. Longbeard

Man that's a tuff one... I guess I'm going to have to say I'm a Spur man...

Frank in the Laurels

THE ONLY true measure of a trophy is the spur...and also in the mind of the hunter that harvested it..a gobbling jake sometimes can be more fun than any two year old.. what ever it takes.. when they look like this, get excited !!!!

Arrowmaster

For me I would say spurs, then the beard. I do look at the beard before I kill one. I dont pay attention to the spurs until after the kill. If there that close for me to see the spurs, Id better be pulling the trigger...

maytom

I check out the beard first, since it's the most visable thing to see on a gobbler. Spurs are sure nice, and I rate them at the top like most others, but they are usually a complete surprize after the kill. Rule of thumb, if he's sporting a decent beard, he also will be wearing a decent set of hooks as well. For some who say they hold off the shot because they want to check out his spurs first, I say Hogwash!! Most times you can't even see the spurs due to vegetation being in the way!! If a bird comes in sporting a 10"+ beard, he's taking a ride in my truck, even if I never seen his spurs before pulling the trigger!!

Roadkillwarrior

I kind of like not knowing what kind of spurrs the bird has. The anticipation of checking them out and never knowing is a short period of time, but almost as exciteing as shooting the bird. I to try and make sure the turkey has atleast an 8"beard before shooting, but the longest beard Ive ever had a bird have was a 11 1/2" beard and it was only a two year old. I have shot three birds that have multiple beards. My personal best turkey , spurr wise, was this seasons bird that had 28mm, or 1 1/8" spurrs. Hope to get one someday with atleast 30mm spurrs.

Arrowmaster

Thats right Maytom...

drhntr178

I always look for a bird with a good bird but I would have to say the spurs are more of a trophy.

Ive been able tokill around 30gobblers since i started hunting and I have several 11" or longer birds but only have 2 w/ what i consider triphy spurs of 1.25 or longer. Ive called in a couple additional limbhangers for friends also.

Some people say you cant tell the size of a spurs until after you kil him but I can usually tell by how he goes about his daily routine and how tough he is to hunt. The older birds are definitely a different creature.

JW

Spurs hands down - but what I look for is he a dominant bird and then follow what MayTom said........however I do my dangdest to see the spurs.......


Seein spurs you know he is up close and personal!

JW

r33h

I think most people guage by the bird at first because that is the easier to see than the spurs. But the true measure of a mature bird is the spurs. Young jakes can have longer beards but really short spurs. I have been told by my taxidermist that the best way to know the age of a gobbler is by the length of the spurs (other than actually ripping the bird open and looking at the bone density / structure).