Big Toms

[Native Hunter]

Zoom in and check out the size of the two Toms in the background on the left side and in the middle of the pic. The one in the middle isn't puffed up, but looks like he has a paintbrush beard that is dragging the ground.

 

[Bill]

I wish I could send all mine to the guys that have low numbers. The vermin lived in my beans all winter

hope my Turkey hunters show up this spring....

 

[Mortenson]

How old would a gobbler be to develop a paintbrush beard like that?

 

[H20fwler]

Nice! That old gobbler has a rope beard!

 

[Native Hunter]

How old would a gobbler be to develop a paintbrush beard like that?

it would depend on genetics but I would say 4 years. A 2 year old Tom is usually easy to tell but it gets hard for me after that.

 

[MRBB]

well take with a grain of salt
for 3 yrs I had a group of males (showed uo as more or less larger chicks??)
that roamed my neighborhood, they were 100% wild turkeys that ventured out of local forested lands into backyards, a few neighbors started feeding em, till they got sick of them hanging out all day and crapping there brains out as they did!
then one day, they left and never seen again,
but it took till the third yr for them to get beards that were dragging, didn;t take any pic;s of them, but this was them at the second yr they were about, and they had little fear of people or dogs or???

My dog, was a special kind, he hunted like no otherm, but when NOT hunting, he never cared about any other anmal, be it big or small, he let them be, and most all of them at my properties knew it, and didn;t bother him or even run from him??
go figure?

but a few pic's o them I have handy!(they would also eat out of my hand

 

[SWIFFY]

^ HAHAHA! Thats good MRBB! You can tell your Pooch is not overly motivated to chase turkeys! Funny!

Its my understanding that turkey beards, like a beavers teeth, never stop growing. Its the fact that they display and rub them off that keep them at the length they are. So maybe a turkey with an exceptional beard is both old and one that doenst display or strutt as much? Just a thought?

 

[MRBB]

yeah he was a special dog for sure, passed away a few yrs now
as for beards, I know they get brittle and its some what common for them to break off in bad winters
like all things I gather how fast or slow one develops has something to do with genes and make up of it, along with age and food intake as well as how easy or hard there lives are
at my other hunting property, turkeys migrate from there to down in lower elevation, farm lands(about 700-800 ft lower) for winters
its pretty weird how they almost leave a prime area for lower elevations
as I snowmobile and ride atv's all yr here, and come about late dec till about early April, you won';t find a fresh turkey track on top of things,
and that with a ton of food plots and food available, and they still prefer to get lower