Is there such a thing as a runt turkey?
 

Yesterday morning I shot a turkey that was much smaller than the norm in our area.

West Central Illinois
Easterns

Jakes average 18-20 pounds
Toms average 20-26 pounds.

The bird I shot was lucky to make 15 pounds. (I didn't officially weigh him, but could easily tell he was much lighter than the previous birds)

It had a full (even length) tail fan, but no spurs on either leg.
It had a 7" beard and the breast feather tips were brown, indicating that he was less than 3 years old.
Its head had no feathers on it, was thick and wide like a normal male, was white and blue and had small red waddles (so, I doubt that there is any possibility of it being a bearded hen).

He came in full strut and full fan to my decoys for the entire duration I saw him, from 65 yards out to 25 yards when I shot him.

Is this a runt or something else?

RE: Is there such a thing as a runt turkey?
 

A few years back I shot a Tom.
Beard: right at 11 inches
Spurs: A nub on one leg, the other, looked like one wanted to grow there.
Weight: 16.5 lbs.
Now when he came in draggin' that beard, I would of never guessed the rest of him would be so puny. I'm not sure about runts, but some odd genetics for sure are out there.

RE: Is there such a thing as a runt turkey?
 

18-20lb jakes!?!?

what the heck do you feed them!?!?!

i shot a mature bird last year with 1 1/4" spurs and he was 18 something i believe...

not doubting you...thats just amazing for me to think about...last years was the only bird i ever weighed...but everyone says "ohhh 20lbs..." most would be surprised at real weight...they all feel like 40 by the time they are in the truck...

congrats on the bird!

RE: Is there such a thing as a runt turkey?
 

you could def have some wierd genetics. did he gobble at all. did you have a harsh winter? there are alot of factors that could determine weight.

RE: Is there such a thing as a runt turkey?
 

Brown tipped breast feathers and no spursindicate you shot a bearded hen...Gobblers have black tipped breast feathers, even when they are only a few months old...

I have personally never seen a hen strut, but I have talked to friends that have witnessed it, and I've seen a video of a strutting hen..

Perhaps she was having a sexual identity crisis..:D... If she was 15 pounds and had a 7 inch beard, she wasprobably an olderhen, and perhaps the strutting behaviorwas a dominance thing...

I HAVE seen several gobblers without spurs, and I weighed a two year old gobbler once that had spurs, a 9 inch beard and weighed 12 pounds...Some turkeys are indeed just smaller than others..In my area, adult gobblers average from 18 to 22 pounds, but I've seen a number of 15 -16 pound adults, as well as an occasional 18 pound jake....

RE: Is there such a thing as a runt turkey?
 

Where we hunt, there is no cropland for miles; strictly woods and natural meadows. Our toms run small. The food sources are whatever they can gleen from the woods. An 18# tom is huge, 14-16# is typical, even for a 4 yr. old bird. If you travel 10 miles north to farm country, they will top 20# easy. I think they physiologically respond tohigher quality food and are larger or smaller accordingly.

RE: Is there such a thing as a runt turkey?
 

I seriously doubt you have 18-20lb Jake's on the AVERAGE. That's alot of weight for a yearling turkey to put on. A true Jake is less then a year old come turkey season, so your 18-20lb turkeys are probably 2 year old birds ("Joms" around here).

Normal for my area (Northeast Ohio):

Jakes = 12-16 LB

2 Year old "Jom" = 15-20 LB

Toms (3+) = 18-24 LB

RE: Is there such a thing as a runt turkey?
 

My first bird came in with his twin brother, I just took a shot at the one that was closest to where my gun was pointing when they finally were far enough apart for me to not take the both of them out with one shot. He went 16.5 pounds, had a full adult fan, 9 3/4" beard, and nubs for spurs.

RE: Is there such a thing as a runt turkey?
 

Jom

RE: Is there such a thing as a runt turkey?
 

We have been hunting our property for 6 season's now.
We have had 3-4 guys hunting each year.
We have taken 5 Jakes (indicated only by tail feather).
The average weight has been ~ 17.5 lbs.
We have not shot one Jake under 16 lbs.

I probably should have stated the range for our property (not the area) was 16-18.

My two biggest Tom's went 22 and 24 lbs.
I believe these birds to only be 3 year olds since the spurs were just under 1 inch and just at 1 inch.

They have a lot of food to eat in West Central Illinois.

In any event, we ate the RUNT last night and he/she was delicious (not real tough like our hunting partners bearded hen last year).

* I can't believe I didn't weight him/her after the shot (was in too much of a hurry to get back home. I shot it on the last day of my 3-day vacation).
I am guessing he/she was more like 12 lbs, since he/she was 8 lbs when I put it in the oven (I weighed it to know how long to cook it).

Weird bird for sure.