Turkey hunting forum for turkey hunting tips

My friend on Tuesday second day of IL's turkey season shot a Tom with 1.875" and 2" spurs.
Was wondering if anyone knows if spur length can determine the approximate age of a Tom.

No you can not.   Not even a guess.  Only thing aging a turkey is Jake or mature bird, looking at wings.  No actual age can be figured or guessed

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

If you can't guestimate a Gobbler by his spurs, you have not been Turkey Hunting very long, despite what that kook Chamberlain says ;)

Thanks for the reply's. I never bothered concerning myself with aging a turkey beyond if he was a Jake or a Tom.

Just was interested to know if my friend shot a really old tom.
Between he and I hunting three different states together we have killed a very very large number of turkey's especially considering I have 11 seasons where I killed three Toms while hunting two states alone and we have dozens of spurs in the 1.25-1.5" range and only a few at 1.625" and now my friend has a set that are 1.875" and 2".

These spurs reminded me of a velociraptor.

Again thanks.

I can assure you it wasn't a jake. :TooFunny:
I think it's likely that spurs like that would only be found on a pretty mature bird, despite what others above wrote.  It's a trophy for sure, be that a three year old or a six year old bird.

It depends on the terrain the gobbler lives in. Rocky, hilly, rough or mountainous terrain is not conducive to growing long spurs. So while you can guesstimate age on spur length on some gobblers, it's certainly not an exact science. Logic also dictates that genetics and nutrition are factors as well.

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

I don't think you can age turkeys by any physical feature and where I live isn't conducive to spur length so it probably wouldn't matter if you could. They rub them off and bust them up. Rocky country. I killed what I think was probably an older bird last year and he had long curved spurs but they were rounded off like pencil erasers. I'm sure they'd have been another 1/4" or 3/8" in length. All that to say, who cares how old he was. That's just flat cool to see the gaffs on one get that long! He'd have been hell in a knife fight! Would love to see pictures if he has any.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote from: CowHunter71 on April 15, 2022, 10:02:00 PM
If you can't guestimate a Gobbler by his spurs, you have not been Turkey Hunting very long, despite what that kook Chamberlain says ;)

I have seen you post the same drivel on another site...apparently you don't do much reading or pay attention to plenty of information out there on banded birds several years old with 1" spurs; thanks for posting but would think your 6th post on this site might have been better served to contribute something instead of defame someone that is simply stating biological fact.  First thing I do is look at the spurs, but I don't need any validation of a turkey's age to respect every individual bird.

Cut the spurs in half and count the rings

In seriousness I think turkeys are far less reliable to age via eye test than deer and we know deer get difficult to reliably age.

I think there's Jake's, 2+, and he ain't young and your friend's bird falls into he ain't young category

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

Spur cannot be used for aging turkeys. Does not matter where they live or anything.

"He ain't young" I like that aging classification. I'm using that one from now on Tauntohawk. I think I'm officially in that category. I shot one like that several years ago, we just called him Grampus.

Quote from: DMTJAGER on April 15, 2022, 09:50:14 PM
My friend on Tuesday second day of IL's turkey season shot a Tom with 1.875" and 2" spurs.
Was wondering if anyone knows if spur length can determine the approximate age of a Tom.

Forget this age discussion...Can we please see pics of this dinosaur? 

To age a turkey properly...  You cut off his head and count the rings. :gobble:

I know of no way to accurately age a turkey...  But:

*I know a full tail-fan generally means at least a second year bird...
*While 1st-year birds have short birds, there seems to be little difference in beard length after the second year (due to wearing on the ground)
*2nd year birds generally have fairly short/rounded spurs, long-beards, and full fans.
*Older birds have longer and generally more pointed spurs.
*Habitat and diet can both play a role in spur length (rocky country where I hunt, tends to chip their spurs).

I think with spurs you can generally determine Jake, 2 year old, 3 and older.

Longbeards with amber tips tend to be found on those candy corn spurred 2 year olds, while those beards jet black at the tips seem to be worn by the same birds with 1"+ spurs.

A few years ago I read a study that said fan width in Easterns tended to increase with age. Measured across the bottom fan feathers from tip to tip, if the fan measured 30" you had at least a 4 year old bird. Beyond that measurement they didn't have enough data.
Since then most longbeards I've killed have had fans in the 28"-29" range, but a handful have been 30"-31" and they were always on the birds with the biggest spurs and blackest beards. Except one that had 1 7/16" spurs, black tip beard, and a 28.5" fan.

So I believe if you take a bird with all 3 factors together, you can assume you have an older bird, but you'll never be able to accurately tell the age beyond 3 years old.

Spur length is not a reliable way to age a turkey. Here is an example. These 3 birds are all from the same study and same area/habitat.

1st pic the tom had 1 1/4" spurs. Banded as a jake and was 3 years old.

2nd pic the tom had 1 1/8" spurs. Banded as a jake and was 6 years old.

3rd pic the tom had 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" spurs. Banded as a jake and was 7 years old. I believe the growth of this tom's one spur was affected by the band sitting on top of it. Most bands are resting on the turkey's foot, this one must have slipped above the spur somehow and got stuck up there. You can see the spur on the banded foot is a bit deformed as comparing it to the other one.

An interesting note was the 1st and 2nd picture birds were banded on the same day at the same trapping. They were in the same winter flock. Not only that, those two birds were killed within 100 yards of each other. One was killed 3 years later.

Quote from: Treerooster on April 16, 2022, 10:35:05 AM
Spur length is not a reliable way to age a turkey. Here is an example. These 3 birds are all from the same study and same area/habitat.

1st pic the tom had 1 1/4" spurs. Banded as a jake and was 3 years old.

2nd pic the tom had 1 1/8" spurs. Banded as a jake and was 6 years old.

3rd pic the tom had 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" spurs. Banded as a jake and was 7 years old. I believe the growth of this tom's one spur was affected by the band sitting on top of it. Most bands are resting on the turkey's foot, this one must have slipped above the spur somehow and got stuck up there. You can see the spur on the banded foot is a bit deformed as comparing it to the other one.

An interesting note was the 1st and 2nd picture birds were banded on the same day at the same trapping. They were in the same winter flock. Not only that, those two birds were killed within 100 yards of each other. One was killed 3 years later.

Very interesting.... Appreciate you doing your own study on this.

I have looked into this myself and from what I gather, it's seems that once a bird gets to about 3 years old, it's hard to really guess after that. Clearly from the examples you have shown, it seems to be the general consensus on using spurs to age them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The only advantage I could see to aging birds is maybe we could convince folks they really needed to pass on the two and three year olds, you know build that whole, "He would've really been something next year," culture like deer hunting has become, and then I can keep all those hard gobbling two year olds for myself


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hope this uploads here is one of the spurs.
I can not say how many turkey spurs I've seen going to Deer & Turkey classics in IL, IN and WI but it's certainly close to if not almost certainly over 1000, my friend and I alone have over 80 sets and I do not recall ever seeing a set of spurs this big and definitely not any bigger.

Quite a trophy.

Quote from: DMTJAGER on April 16, 2022, 12:10:10 PM
Hope this uploads here is one of the spurs.
I can not say how many turkey spurs I've seen going to Deer & Turkey classics in IL, IN and WI but it's certainly close to if not almost certainly over 1000, my friend and I alone have over 80 sets and I do not recall ever seeing a set of spurs this big and definitely not any bigger.

Quite a trophy.

Shoooo I'd have left him flopping till the rapture before I'd have reached down and tried to grab ahold of them legs!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote from: Mossberg90MN on April 16, 2022, 10:57:46 AM

Quote from: Treerooster on April 16, 2022, 10:35:05 AM
Spur length is not a reliable way to age a turkey. Here is an example. These 3 birds are all from the same study and same area/habitat.

1st pic the tom had 1 1/4" spurs. Banded as a jake and was 3 years old.

2nd pic the tom had 1 1/8" spurs. Banded as a jake and was 6 years old.

3rd pic the tom had 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" spurs. Banded as a jake and was 7 years old. I believe the growth of this tom's one spur was affected by the band sitting on top of it. Most bands are resting on the turkey's foot, this one must have slipped above the spur somehow and got stuck up there. You can see the spur on the banded foot is a bit deformed as comparing it to the other one.

An interesting note was the 1st and 2nd picture birds were banded on the same day at the same trapping. They were in the same winter flock. Not only that, those two birds were killed within 100 yards of each other. One was killed 3 years later.

Very interesting.... Appreciate you doing your own study on this.

I have looked into this myself and from what I gather, it's seems that once a bird gets to about 3 years old, it's hard to really guess after that. Clearly from the examples you have shown, it seems to be the general consensus on using spurs to age them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Greatest of thanks as well for educating me. I had no idea how to age a turkey and guessed correctly unless banded as a Jake they're was no other accurate way.

I notice none of these studies ever found a two year old tom with 1 7/8" spurs.  Just sayin'...

Spur growth varies alot after they reach 3 years. Have studied hundreds of toms and tracked spur growth on my easterns. Jakes and 2 yr olds are easy, not so much after 3. Have 5 yr olds with 1.5" and a few a bit longer.

Hear is a chart used to gauge the age of a turkey, this is the most used method I have read in biology books on turkey. https://ohiodnr.gov/static/documents/wildlife/hunting-trapping/wild%20turkey%20aging%20and%20sexing%20guide.pdf

A jake has a smaller speculum than an adult. The solid colored feathers on the wing.

Quote from: Sir-diealot on April 16, 2022, 07:29:39 PM
Hear is a chart used to gauge the age of a turkey, this is the most used method I have read in biology books on turkey. https://ohiodnr.gov/static/documents/wildlife/hunting-trapping/wild%20turkey%20aging%20and%20sexing%20guide.pdf

Cool chart


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote from: Tail Feathers on April 16, 2022, 12:27:14 PM
I notice none of these studies ever found a two year old tom with 1 7/8" spurs.  Just sayin'...

Yep. I might not be able to tell if a bird is 3 or 4 but there's definitely a difference in 2 year olds and older birds.

Who cares


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote from: Sir-diealot on April 16, 2022, 07:29:39 PM
Hear is a chart used to gauge the age of a turkey, this is the most used method I have read in biology books on turkey. https://ohiodnr.gov/static/documents/wildlife/hunting-trapping/wild%20turkey%20aging%20and%20sexing%20guide.pdf

I've never shot a mature gobbler with a beard under 9".
I've shot candy corn spur gobblers with beards over 10"
I've shot 1.25" spur gobblers with beards less than 10"

Some of that chart is factual, but some of it is just filler with no substance.

Quote from: Terry on April 17, 2022, 09:44:13 AM
Who cares


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I do.

QuoteI've never shot a mature gobbler with a beard under 9".
I've shot candy corn spur gobblers with beards over 10"
I've shot 1.25" spur gobblers with beards less than 10"

I've noticed over the years that some Eastern birds that I thought were younger had the best beards.  Length and paintbrush. 
I'm talking to the ones with 7/8 or 1" spurs that I felt may be two year olds. 

Quote from: GobbleGitr on April 16, 2022, 09:07:47 AM

Quote from: CowHunter71 on April 15, 2022, 10:02:00 PM
If you can't guestimate a Gobbler by his spurs, you have not been Turkey Hunting very long, despite what that kook Chamberlain says ;)

I have seen you post the same drivel on another site...apparently you don't do much reading or pay attention to plenty of information out there on banded birds several years old with 1" spurs; thanks for posting but would think your 6th post on this site might have been better served to contribute something instead of defame someone that is simply stating biological fact.  First thing I do is look at the spurs, but I don't need any validation of a turkey's age to respect every individual bird.

I'll just assume you have not killed many Gobblers and are not capable of making a very educated guess.

Quote from: ferocious calls on April 17, 2022, 06:38:27 PM

Quote from: Terry on April 17, 2022, 09:44:13 AM
Who cares


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I do.

Me too.

I like learning about turkeys, all their attributes and habits. Gobblers and hens.

I read the journal article on that study of the banded birds. There was any there 7 year old and several other 6 year olds too, like 5 or 6 of them. Makes me wonder if there aren't more of these older turkeys than we think.

For some reason I never really paid a lot of attention to spurs on the turkey I harvested. There where a few times when my family or I would notice a set of large spurs, larger then 1.5 I'm guessing. Wasn't really a thing.

I always thought I could gauge a turkeys age until they where over 4 yrs old. After that all bets are off, seems maybe spurs would have given me the answer.

Quote from: Number17 on April 17, 2022, 12:24:07 PM

Quote from: Sir-diealot on April 16, 2022, 07:29:39 PM
Hear is a chart used to gauge the age of a turkey, this is the most used method I have read in biology books on turkey. https://ohiodnr.gov/static/documents/wildlife/hunting-trapping/wild%20turkey%20aging%20and%20sexing%20guide.pdf

I've never shot a mature gobbler with a beard under 9".
I've shot candy corn spur gobblers with beards over 10"
I've shot 1.25" spur gobblers with beards less than 10"

Some of that chart is factual, but some of it is just filler with no substance.

When I shared the chart I did not realize there was a second chart under it, I was referring to the use of the wings to age in most books I have read.

I think folks that hunt the same area every year can get where they can identity jakes (obviously), two-year-olds (regularly), and perhaps three-year-olds with some level of accuracy.  After that, it is pretty much a w.a.g., I think.  In these parts, I have a tendency to think a gobbler with sharp-pointed and somewhat curved spurs is probably an older gobbler (4+), but I would never bet my life on it!  I ain't that confident!   ;D :D