Does anyone know if the size of the tail fan can determine age, other than a jake? In other words, with the tail at full fan position does the spread length mean anything?

Not a thing my friend, Fan size is genaric and some have larger fans then others in anyone strain. Now different Sub Spieces have different feather lenghts in a Fan. Western Birds are a bit smaller then the Eastern Strain...BT

[Deleted by Admins]

I'll rebut that statement...spur length can be an indicator, as can beard length.

Typically, the older a bird the longer the beard and the longer & sharper the spurs.

However, this can all be changed by environment...ie ice storms can snap beards, as can brittle-beard rot, and spurs can be excessively worn down due to rocky terrain located throughout the US.

As far as I'm concerned, if it's got a full fan it's a tom...and it's good enough for me

spur lenght is the best indicator. beard length does not mean that much, i killed a bird last year i was watchin and wanted to kill he had a 5 inch beard but was runnin the other longbeards off i knew he was the dominate bird. i got him opening day and he had .... 1 inch 7/8 spurs. so beard doesnt mean too much

I agree, spur length is the best indicator. I shot a two year old last year with a 11 7/8" beard but only had 7/8" spurs. Big bird, good genetics, but not very old. I have also shot a bird that had beards 9 3/4" and 6 1/4" but had 1 3/8" spurs.