Spurs!!!!

[wisconsinteacher]

Okay, what state/species produces the best spurs???  In WI, I would guess the average is .75"-1.25".  I would love to get my hands on a pair of hooks someday and if it means traveling, I might have to save up and go hunt them.

[alclark2]

I hear the sandy soil states grow big hooks. Rough habitat wear on spurs and beards.


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[DirtNap647]

not pa

[jblackburn]

Good question.  I've heard the Osceolas tend to have longer spurs but never hunted them.  I called up a Rio in Western OK 2 years ago for  buddy with 1 9/16 spurs.  I have  a buddy in central MO that has killed 2 with spurs over 1 1/2.  My best is 1 1/4, in fact I've killed 3 with 1 1/4 spurs.  One from MO, one from OK, and one from KS.

[Huntaholic]

You said travel, so my answer is ocellated!  If you want a bird with hooks, thats the one to go after. Other than that, the osceolas in FL tend to have the best spurs Ive ever seen.

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

The biggest spurs are where the birds are unhunted and the soil is void of rock.

I've killed and guided 1 1/2"-1 7/8" hooks on easterns in the mid Atlantic and south east.  I've also got a merriams hybrid with true 1.5" hooks.

Find property with low to zero pressure and that's where you'll find your hooks.

[WillH]

I agree with the above... Find a property with very little pressure and you'll find hooks. Simply cause they live longer.

[Cutt]

Find property with low to zero pressure and that's where you'll fin your hooks.

I do agree, but on the other hand Pressured land can also produce at times. These birds have seen and heard everything and if they are lucky to make it a few years they become very difficult to kill, making for some future Limbhangers. Have taken a few good ones over the yeras off Public Land towards the end of the Season.

[TxLongspur]

This spur thing is a real mystery ... I have amassed quite a spur collection through the years as im sure many on this forum have as well ... i literally have boxes of spurs that are 1"- 1 3/8" ... I have been fortunate (lucky) enough to have taken 6 birds that are 1 1/2 or better . The longest spurred bird I have was shot in Macon county Missouri and one spur is 1 13/16 and the other is 1 3/4 " . I have taken quite a few osceolas from the south Florida , but none of them over an 1 1/4" .. I live in Texas and the other 5 birds with  1 1/2 spurs are rios (go figure ) and some were harvested in sandy country and some were harvested in the rocky hill country of Texas ..where it doesn't seem likely that they could potentially have longer spurs.  We have a farm we have leased in Sullivan county , missouri which is just 35 miles away from the area of Missouri (Macon county) where I shot the bird with the giant spurs ..and in 9 years of hunting this farm we have never taken a bird with spurs longer than an inch ...some of these birds with one inch spurs weighed in at 26-28 lbs..so I don't believe they were all 2and 3 year old birds.. By law of average some had to be 3-4 year olds .. There very little pressure around us . I wander if spur growth is a lot like antler growth . Some have it and some never will , or is it Age + genetics + diet equals big spurs.. If they have the gene pool and right amount of good food supply ?? There is little , if any agriculture in the area of Missouri we hunt now , but the area we used to hunt south of kirksville was mostly farm ground, and every year someone in our group would kill a spur giant .I have never harvested a true Merriam with spurs longer than 3/4" .. As a matter of fact the merriam i shot this year in new mexico had nubs for spurs and barely had a beard , but had a full fan and over 20 lbs. I would like to hear other opinions on this  ...like I stated in the beginning this has been a subject that has always interested me . The spur to me is the true trophy part of the turkey , and has been what we have always used to somewhat judge a birds age ..Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated ....btw this would have been the very first question I would have asked Mr. Lovett , had I ever had the opportunity to have met him in person . Hey was truly the hero of the American wild turkey , and will greatly be missed , by all of us , who are privileged enough to enjoy this wonderful sport of hunting the elusive  "Tall Timber Gabriel "