He will be on the wall as well. We don’t register deer or turkeys on these private properties. My biggest on that property was 22lbs. Great habitat produced great weights and doesn’t antlers.

Way to go for her!!

Heck yeah! Congrats to her!

Meh. Spurs vary based on terrain. All depends on that. I like to judge them on weight. Heavy bird means good flock health.

Good for her … that’s a biggin

lol
Okay

Never bought into the spurs based on terrain argument. Sorta goes with bucks not growing large antlers. If they all live long enough (barring injury) they grow spurs and antlers. I think some species just don’t grow large spurs. Take Merriam’s or Gould’s…they are just stubby spurs for the most part. I guess that’s where the argument comes because they’re considered “mountain” birds. But, there’s mountains in the Eastern’s range as well and they still grow some impressive spurs. Weight down here is dependent on beginning of season vs end of season. I’ve killed a 22# bird opening day and a 14# bird the day before season ended off the same property the same year. That poor bird didn’t have a breast feather on his chest, lol.

Clay, I’ve killed 1 Eastern with 1.5” spurs and believe it or not, a Texas Rio with 1.5” spurs. This is only the 3rd bird I’ve seen up close with those measurements. I’ve killed an Osceola with 1 3/8” spurs. I was with a buddy in Arizona when he killed a Merriam with 1 3/8” spurs too. The very first thing I look for after killing one are those spurs to let me know how old he is.

Agreed.
It’s all about the spur for me.
Don’t get me wrong. Any adult gobbler is getting torched. But I as well check the spur first.
My biggest spur was a Texas Rio as well. 1 5/8”.
A legitimate 1 3/4” spur is as rare as a 200” whitetail.

I have a buddy who killed a Merriams in SD with 1.5” spurs.

I’m with you guys, would rather kill a bird with long spurs than a long beard or heavy weight. Some of the places we hunt, heavy just means they been at the neighbors bird feeder all month.

Don’t hunt much anymore, turkeys don’t gobble like good ole days and way too many people hunting now vs 30 years ago. Most birds under 19# here, got some pushing 20. Spurs was always the gauge on boss bird. 1 1/2” spurs was fairly common, few 1 3/4”, and longest was 1 7/8”. The old man got one that had 2”+ spurs.