The current record for beard length is held by Steve Overton of Sharp County, Arkansas. He shot an Eastern Turkey in April of 2000 with a
17.62-inch beard
.
What is the longest beard on a turkey?
NWTF World Record for Turkey with the Most Beards
The longest beard was
10 inches
and all 13 beards added up to a combined length of 78.9375 inches. The tom weighed 22 pounds and had a . 9735 spur on one leg and a 1-inch spur on the other, making it the third highest-scoring turkey in the NWTF record system.
How long can a turkey beard get?
Turkey Beards
As a general rule, jakes will have short beards (about 2 to 3 inches in length), while the tom turkey beard
can be up to 10 inches or more
(they don’t call them longbeards for nothing). Sometimes toms even get multiple beards, which can be another good sign of maturity.
How old is a turkey with a 10 inch beard?
Beards begin growing when turkeys are about 5 months old, and keep growing 4 to 5 inches annually. According to Turkey & Turkey Hunting magazine,
a 2-year-old gobbler’s
beard usually measures 8 to 10 inches. When it’s 3 years old, a gobbler’s beard will have grown about 14 inches.
What is the longest spur on a turkey?
The longest turkey spurs on record are
2.5625 inches
, and they belonged to an Eastern harvested in North Carolina by Willard Dills in 2017. If you happen to take a Tom with spurs over 2.25 inches, that’ll get you into the National Wild Turkey Federation’s (NWTF) current Top 10 list for longest spurs on record.
How old is a turkey with 1 inch spurs?
| Spur Length Age | 0′′ to 1/2′′ 1 year or a jake | 1/2′′ to 7/8′′ 2 years | 7/8′ to 1′′ 3 years | 1 ” and above 4 plus years |
|---|
Why do hen turkeys have beards?
Turkey beards grow from the chest of gobblers. … It’s not clear Turkey beards’ purpose is not clear, but they
may help differentiate birds
or may be a sign of virility to attract females. Beards and spurs on turkeys differentiate males from females.
Do Gobblers lose their beards?
Gobblers have a beard, which is a cluster of long follicles in the center of their chest that can be an inch to 10 inches long. Unlike the rest of the body feathers which undergo 5 molts throughout an eastern’s lifetime,
the beard does not molt.
Do turkey beards fall off?
Turkeys’ beards can certainly wear off, be broken off
, or be shot off! But they likely don’t rot off. Regardless, if someone tells you their gobbler should have had a 15-inch beard if it hadn’t worn off, tell them that you would be the Jeopardy champion if their nonsense hadn’t worn off on you!
How old is a turkey with a 7 inch beard?
As biology tells us, the beard starts to grow when the young male turkey (or in some cases, female) is roughly five months old. That bird will add five inches annually on average. And a legal fall gobbler
roughly 1.5 years old
will often have a 6- to 7-inch beard.
How old is the oldest turkey?
The average lifespan of a wild turkey is three to five years, and the oldest known wild turkey lived to be
at least 13 years old
.
How can you tell how old a turkey is by his beard?
You can hold a beard up to a light or window to see amber tips. If the tips are more than about 70 percent amber colored, the bird is 2. If there’s little or no amber coloration, the bird is likely
3 or older
. Other than that, a beard doesn’t tell you much about the age of a gobbler.
What does a trophy turkey score?
The minimum score for a Trophy Turkey Award
is 65
. KDWPT keeps Top 20 lists in two categories: typical and nontypical. Birds with multiple beards would fall under the nontypical category.
How can you tell if a turkey is a male baby?
The easiest way to tell male and female turkeys apart is by
looking at their feathers
. Female turkeys (hens) have brown or gray feathers, while male turkeys (gobblers) have brightly colored feathers.
How big can Turkey Spurs get?
EASTERN: According to the NWTF, the longest registered spurs for an Eastern wild turkey are
2.2500 inches
.
