wyoming turkey harvested opening day of spring season. Heard him shock gobbling when I got out of the truck. A red tail hawk was being pestered by black birds and every time he would scold the birds the turkey would gobble. Kept after him for a half mile till he was 23 yards and whacked him with a .223.2015 wyoming spring turkey
- Thread starter wyheadhunter
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wyoming turkey harvested opening day of spring season. Heard him shock gobbling when I got out of the truck. A red tail hawk was being pestered by black birds and every time he would scold the birds the turkey would gobble. Kept after him for a half mile till he was 23 yards and whacked him with a .223.
sneakypete
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ElkTrout
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lostriverproductions
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brushcreek
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nice! did not realize you could use rifles in some states. is there a caliber restriction in Wyoming?
according to regulations all centerfire cartridges, shotguns, muzzleloaders, and .22 wmr and .17hmr for the rimfires are all legal. Yeah isnt the traditional way of hunting them. A man has to pay attention to where he hits one to save the bulk of the meat. This is the first animal I have shot with the new rra ar-15. Hit at the base of the neck it bloodshot the top of breast a little but cleaned up good. Glad I didnt throw a hollow point clip in the gun ha ha. He is a pretty good bird for what I know of merriams turkeys. Maybe someone can give me an educated guess as to age of the bird? 24 pounds with 1 1/4" spurs and 9 1/2" beard. I was guessing a 4 year old but that is just a guess.
Hilltop
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Aging turkeys is very difficult from what I studied. The beard length isn't much of an indicator because it is continually growing and wearing off the entire life of the bird. However, if the beard is 9+ inches with black, worn tips, the bird should be at least 3+ years old. If the beard is 6-10 inches and the beard tips don't appear to be worn or broken (also may appear brownish in color), the bird is likely 2-3 years old. Beard lengths much over 10" are rare and are usually found on birds with longer than average legs. This allows the beard to get a bit longer before wearing off. Spur length is as much about genetics as it is age. It is however rare to find a spur of over 1" on a bird less than 3 years old. Weight of 2+ year old birds varies greatly based on available food so weight is even tougher to use as a gauge. My guess is your bird is 3+...
Thank you Hilltop for all that information. I have actually guided to quite a few birds in Nebraska pine ridge country as well as Wyoming, and the one thing we really noticed on the weights of the birds is the weights went down the further into the spring season the bird was harvested. Average 2+ year old birds weights were mostly in the mid 20's for weight where by the end of the season we were lucky to harvest a long bearded limb hanger that would make 20 pounds. I was guessing the breeding season takes it out of them just like the rut for deer, elk, and antelope. I never really payed much attention to the beards besides the length overall. After reading your words of wisdom I drug out all my beards and started seeing exactly what you are talking about. I wish I would have logged what beard went with what years turkey and payed close attention to what my thoughts were about the bird like weight time of year spur length etc. I know that only a hand full of my birds had spurs over an inch with the sharp hooks, what I would call limb hangers. I have beards that are 10" plus that are all the same length and 2 others that are 10" plus that are all worn and broken. This birds brush is all worn and broken as well but only 9.5". I guess with this new found knowledge from you I will have to try to keep better track of the looks of the beards to tell as much about the bird as anything else. It seems easy to tell a Jake from a 2 year old by fan and lack of spurs and lack of draping beard. and two year olds have longer beards but still dont have sharp spurs that get out into the 1" range like the 3 plus birds. It would be nice to drag out a spotting scope and be able to tell a 3 year old from a 4 or 5 year old. Thank You again for all that great information.
Hilltop
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Your welcome- I'm listing information from someone else's hard work. I have done my best to age my birds taken but I would love to do a larger scale study some day to see if I can find any other indicators. What you're saying about their weight makes a lot of sense. I do think those older toms work pretty hard through the mating season.
yeah they are constantly pestering the hens. I wish i would have taken the time to study more when guiding all the full of knowledge people that I used to guide but it was long days most trips trying to get 4 birds whacked in a 3 day hunt. I guess that is what happens when you get a chance to slow down. Now I want all that knowledge and dont spend enough time to gather it ha ha.