How Big

[Saltydog235]

do Easterns get? Is there like a record book? How tall would a 25lb bird be? What is the longest beard you've seen?

[SCtrkyhntr1]

You talking about in SC or anywhere? Below are some NWTF records you can search by weight, beard length or total score.


http://www.nwtf.org/all_about_turkey...ey_records.php

[willk]

You hit one with the truck?

[quack head 11]

I killed one almost 27# in Kansas this year, his beard nor spurs were overly impressive.

He is huge and at the taxidermist

[quack head 11]

I was 240 lbs in this picture and I am a broad shouldered fella. Just shows how big his body is

[Saltydog235]

You hit one with the truck?

Nah, had one come out in the lane last night with his head down, damn thing looked like a hog in that tall grass. Put the range finder on his beard and used the scale that gives me a spread on the rack and the beard was between 13-14". Couldn't see the spurs because of the grass. The post on the feeder is a little over 4' tall and I swear his head wasn't but about 6-8" below it. The other gobbler with him was pretty good sized with a 10-11" beard and looked like a Jake.

They both moved off in the woods then blew up into the trees making all sort of a ruckus. About 5 minutes later they both came back down. It was fun to watch but admittedly I've got no turkey experience so I thought I would ask.

[GobblerHntr]

Funny looking "eastern"

[davisd9]

Nah, had one come out in the lane last night with his head down, damn thing looked like a hog in that tall grass. Put the range finder on his beard and used the scale that gives me a spread on the rack and the beard was between 13-14". Couldn't see the spurs because of the grass. The post on the feeder is a little over 4' tall and I swear his head wasn't but about 6-8" below it. The other gobbler with him was pretty good sized with a 10-11" beard and looked like a Jake.

They both moved off in the woods then blew up into the trees making all sort of a ruckus. About 5 minutes later they both came back down. It was fun to watch but admittedly I've got no turkey experience so I thought I would ask.

Could have been a double or multi bearded bird that made the beard seem longer. A big gobbler can be quite tall and weights the past couple of seasons has been up. They have had plenty of time to add weight from the spring so seeing a 20-25 lb bird is not out of the realm of possibility but he would be a big boy overall. Hope you can lay him down this spring so we can know for sure.

[Spur hunter]

do Easterns get? Is there like a record book? How tall would a 25lb bird be? What is the longest beard you've seen?

My experience has been with SC easterns, mostly in the peidmont area, and a big woods bird is 18-20lbs normally. Fall mast crop usually has a big impact on spring weights. Field birds usually run a pound or three larger and around 19-21lbs generally. What impresses me most is that the bigger birds are usually bigger overall, bigger frame and longer, built like a horse. I killed a public land woods bird in 2013 that went 24lbs and another this past spring that went 23lbs. Am sure mast crop was a factor. My boy killed a private land tom at 25lbs late last spring, the largest I've ever held. That tom was also huge in frame and had a tail fan that was a good 4" wider than normal. The longest beard I have ever personally seen was an honest 13".

All that said, a 20lb bird with a solid 10" beard looks huge especially when you are flat on your duff against a tree looking at him on eyeball level.

[Saltydog235]

Could have been a double or multi bearded bird that made the beard seem longer. A big gobbler can be quite tall and weights the past couple of seasons has been up. They have had plenty of time to add weight from the spring so seeing a 20-25 lb bird is not out of the realm of possibility but he would be a big boy overall. Hope you can lay him down this spring so we can know for sure.

Single beard, believe y'all normally call them paintbrushes, this one was toting a damn Graco Sprayer. I got some good looks at the bird by the feeder, just never could see his hooks because of the grass.

[HartClemson99]

I went on a big charity hunt in eastern Kansas this year. Tens of thousands of acres were hunted and all birds were brought in for measurement each day for 3 days. About 1/2 dozen birds out of 40 were killed weighing between 24-27lbs. The 27lb bird was the biggest I had ever put my hands on. Eastern KS near the MO line grows some monster corn fed easterns. KS, MO, IA, IL, KY are known to grow some very big easterns.

SC birds that all came from Francis Marion and Savannah River genetics typically don't get that large. The largest SC bird I have seen dead is 24lbs. Spur Hunter is correct on the mast crop having a big impact on the weight. In 2011 Florida had an incredible live oak acorn crop. The average Osceola that I saw dead that spring was around 20lbs, when the normal weight of those birds is around 17. I got lucky and ended up killing a 22lb bird that year, no doubt fattened up from live oak acorns.

[dixiedeerslaya]

the most commonly over judged things in the wild are the length of a gobblers beard by a non turkey hunter and the length of an alligator by a non alligator hunter.

[Saltydog235]

the most commonly over judged things in the wild are the length of a gobblers beard by a non turkey hunter and the length of an alligator by a non alligator hunter.

I'd agree with you but my range finder has a scale to measure the spread on racks. I have it set at 16", the beard from the root where it comes from the thorax to the ground was a few inches shy of that 16" scale. At 105yds it'd be pretty hard to mess that up. It was a big bird. I may sit the same stand tonight and if I see it, I'll try to get some cell phone pics.

[flockbuster]

the most commonly over judged things in the wild are the length of a gobblers beard by a non turkey hunter and the length of an alligator by a non alligator hunter.

That and snakes by people who wear snake boots