# How Do You Age a Turkey?



## The Ojibwa

I read all of the turkey hunting threads and of course everyone posts the measurements...so how do those equate to age?

For example, my bird last year had a 9" beard and 1 1/8" spurs...I was camping in WNF and didn't have a scale but probably 20 lbs. The shorter beard would indicate a younger tom but the longer spurs would say different.

There seems to be big discrepancies between beard length vs. spur length so does anyone have any estimates on how to age "mature" birds?


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## M.Magis

A two year old bird can have an 11&#8221; beard. On the flip side, a 5 year old bird can have a 2&#8221; stub that got frozen off, so beard doesn&#8217;t mean much. Spurs tell you a little bit. Under ½&#8221; and rounded would be a jake. Most 2 year olds have spurs under 1&#8221; long and not all that sharp. Birds 3 years old or older typically have spurs 1&#8221; or longer. That&#8217;s as close to &#8220;aging&#8221; a turkey as you can get.
I should also add that a lot of people measure spurs incorrectly. But it sounds likely that your birds was 3 years old or older.


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## The Ojibwa

how does one measure the spurs correctly?


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## I_Shock_Em

Magis, or anyone else for that matter. Any idea how you can tell whether a bird has had it's beard "frozen off" My buddy and I were talking about this yesterday. He told me that the beard can be frozen off (or get frostbite) and the beard will have a rusty coloration to it on the tips. He said that he had heard this before, but never actually witnessed it. I shot my first bird of the season yesterday (see other post) and it had a 7.5 inch beard which I thought was rather small for an otherwise large mature bird. The beard did have this rusty color to the tips. Anybody think that part of the beard could have frozen off?


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## Mushijobah

Beard can also be effected by erosion....constantly rubbing on the ground, as you might imagine, could alter the length.


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## firstflight111

Beard Characteristics -- How to Age Your Gobbler

Beards are another variable that may be used in determining the age of a gobbler. Generally, beards grow at a rate of 4" to 5" a year and never stop growing. They also will usually get wider and thicker as the gobbler ages. Knowing this, you can be fairly certain a gobbler with a beard of less than 5" is a one year old bird.There are still exceptions to this though since mature gobblers can lose most or all of the beard to various causes.

The beard length is only partially helpful in determining the age of a gobbler because after a bird reaches the age of 2 when the beard reaches a length of 9" to 10" and it starts to wear down at the tip. When the bird feeds, the beards tip is worn by both getting stepped on by the tom and by dragging on the ground.


There are also many other variable which can affect the length of a beard including:

Growth Rate -- Some birds simply grow beards fast enough to overcome the wear factor. 
Habitat -- Some geographical areas have ground which is "softer" and does not wear the beard tips as much. Swampy area birds (Osceola) generally have longer beards and spurs than rocky area birds (Merriam's). 
Leg Length -- If the legs are longer (like on an Osceola) the beard will grow longer before it starts to wear at the end. 
Filament Strength -- Beards with stronger individual filaments will not wear as quickly. 
Thickness: -- If a beard is really thick with lots of filaments and a large circumference, it will not wear as fast as a thin, wispy beard. 
Diet -- Certain foods may make a beard tougher and more wear resistant. 
Climate -- Northern birds or birds in areas with high snowfalls will often lose the tips of their beards when ice builds up on them and they break off. 
Disease -- Turkeys will occasionally get a melanin deficiency in their beard. Melanin is the pigment that makes the beard black and sometimes the melanin production is stopped during the growth of the beard and the beard gets a blonde or light colored streak across it. Usually the melanin production will pick back up and the rest of the beard will be black but the beard will always have that blonde streak through it. The light-colored portion of the beard is much more brittle and weaker than the black portions and the beards will often break off at that point or stop growing. Some turkeys suffering from this will have completely blonde beards. 
The best research I have seen relating beard characteristics to the age of a wild turkey gobbler can be found in Lovett Williams books "The Book of the Wild Turkey" (1981) and "After the Hunt " (1996). 

In these books he talks about examining the tips of the beards to aid in determining the age of a gobbler. The end of a young gobbler's beard will appear translucent amber when held up to a light and it will have smooth, rounded tips on the filaments. As the beard continues growing, the amber tip will eventually wear off and the ends of the filaments will become jagged. Thus a gobbler with a 10" beard that still has its amber tips would be a 2 year old gobbler since the beard hasn't grown enough yet to completely wear off the amber tips.

Beard Length Tip Color Age 
0" to 4" Amber Younger than 1 year 
4" to 5" Amber 1 year 
8" to 10" Amber 2 years 
10" plus Black 3 years or older


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## M.Magis

The Ojibwa said:


> how does one measure the spurs correctly?


This doesn't show a good picture, but it describes fairly well. I've seen people add close to 1/4" by measuring the inside, and "rounding" up. 

http://www.nwtf.org/for_hunters/how_to_score.html




I_Shock_Em said:


> Magis, or anyone else for that matter. Any idea how you can tell whether a bird has had it's beard "frozen off"


It's probably nearly impossible to tell on a lot of birds. It would depend on how recently it had happened. 
Many birds are also affected by beard rust.


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## turkeyt

Here we go. These are fairly common results and not a given with some situations. A jake will have a spur that is a bump or no more than 1/2". A two year old bird will have an about an inch spur but in most cases not real sharp. A three year old bird will have a spur that is a little longer and sharper and starting to curl. A four or more year old turkey will have a spur in the 1 1/8' or 1 1/4" and curling. Some folks say if you can hang one by the spurs it is 4 years old or older. The older birds will also have a grayer weathered looking skin on their legs and a young bird will be pinker. Hope this helps some. As far as beards go some of the younger turkeys will have 8 to 10" beards but they will be thinner around. Older birds usually have "brooms" and will range from 8" to 12". If you kill a bird with a 12" broom beard consider yourself lucky. Most turkeys that make it that old have had some problem over their life cycle such as mites, wear and tear and freezing. One thing to remember though is this: Any gobbler you hunt is a challenge and the easy ones are a plus and the tough ones are a reward. No turkey hunt is ever the same and remember to stay safe and take the kids out in the woods with you.


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## M.Magis

The "mass" of a beard means nothing. Most of the birds I've killed in the last 10 years have had spurs 1 1/8" or longer, and almost all have had somewhat thin beards, it's just normal around here. My best bird had legitimate 1 5/8" spurs, and had a very thin 9" beard.


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## The Ojibwa

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=k+m2wGyGrmQ=&tabid=19022

A member put me on to this


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