Age of a turkey?

[HFultzjr]

How do you all tell the age of a turkey?
I know several people that see a turkey in the woods and say...that's a jake, that's a 2 year old, and those are 4 or 5 year olds.
Are they just making educated guesses, or am I missing something?
I can tell a jake usually by size and the way they act.
As for the others?

Thanks.

[turkeyfeathers]

Jakes will have shorter beards typically, their middle tailfeathers will be longer than the rest and won't complete a nice rounded fan. You may determine a cruddy gobble from a jake  If they come running in on a deathwish, probably a jake.
Length of spurs can help you determine approximate age but that's a little hard to do as they're walking around. Nubs on jake, 3/4" on 2 year old. Inch on 3 year old as rule of thumb in these parts. Don't think there's any surefire way to determine birds age between 2,3,4 etc while they're alive.

[Greg Massey]

Agree you want find many turkey's past 3 years of age...most will be 2 year old.. life of a turkey doesn't go past 3 year old very often..

[stinkpickle]

Except for jakes, aging turkeys "on the hoof" is a guessing game.

[SteelerFan]

http://www.pgc.pa.gov/Wildlife/WildlifeSpecies/Turkey/Pages/TurkeyBiologyFAQ.aspx#.Vx6GydQrKM8

Like stinkpickle said, aging "on the hoof" is tough. Easy for jake vs. tom based on tail feathers and beard lengths - but 3 yrs and up is a total SWAG (Scientific Wild A** Guess)

[Bill Cooksey]

The graph SteelerFan put up is a good general reference. That said, I no longer look at beard length unless it's a legal issue in the state. I've seen too many mature birds with a short beard (beard rot or other issue). One had 1-7/8th inch spurs. Also, called in a bird for my father-in-law years ago. It was raining and the bird didn't strut, but he had a nine inch beard. Picked up the bird and noticed jake spurs. Spread the fan, and it was a jake fan. Often wonder what kind of beard he would have at three.

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

No way to tell age after 2 years old.

[stinkpickle]

No way to tell age after 2 years old.

Bingo...unless you're lucky enough to get a banded bird. 

[TNTRKYHunter]

No way to tell age after 2 years old.

^^Agree^^

[silvestris]

The older the gobbler the more prominent the skullcap as a general rule, but on the hoof, any gobbler with a full fan and a respectable beard can only be judged as two or better unless you have had the opportunity to watch him grow.

[Gooserbat]

Ods are a 1 1/2 spured bird isn't a three year old.  Just saying. 

[HFultzjr]

Thanks all.
That's pretty much what I thought.
Basically Jake vs. Mature
I thought I might have been missing something, but it would seem they were just "educated" guesses.
Goes along with telling a bucks age by it's antlers.........LOL
We all know how accurate that is!

Harold

[mgm1955]

According to Lovett Williams spur length will help you age a turkey up to three years of age.