How old is a turkey with a 4-inch beard?

How long are Jakes beards?

about 2 to 3 inches
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).

How old is a turkey with a 4-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.

How can you tell how old a turkey is by their beard?

By viewing the beard of a live turkey, you can easily tell whether the bird is 1 (jake) or at least 2 (adult gobbler). And for a bird in hand, you can tell whether the bird is a jake, 2-year-old gobbler or an older gobbler. A jake, obviously, will have a short — typically 3- to 4-inch — beard.

What is the longest turkey beard ever recorded?

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.

How long does it take for a Jake to turn into a tom?

A baby male turkey, or a ​poult​, becomes a ​jake​ at about one year of age. Once he reaches two years old, he is known as a ​tom turkey​. Jake turkeys have a few key characteristics that can help you identify them.

How old is a turkey with 1 inch spurs?

Gobblers with spurs one-half inch or less are juveniles, 5/8 inch up to 1 inch are 2-year-olds, 1 to 1 3/8 inches are 3-year-olds and birds with spurs greater than 1 3/8 inches are older than three years. Gobblers with longer spurs (1½ to 2 inches) probably range in age from 5 to 8 or more years.

How old is a turkey with 1.5 inch spurs?

Spur Length	Curvature	Age
0″ to 1/2″	Straight	1 year or a jake
1/2″ to 7/8″	Straight	1 1/2 years (fall) 2 years (spring)
1′ to 1 1/2″	Slight Curve	2 to 3 years
Over 1 1/2″	Curved	over 4 years

How rare is a turkey with 4 beards?

Typical gobblers have only one beard that continues to grow throughout their life. About two percent of gobblers have multiple beards.

What is a Super Jake turkey?

Super Jake This turkey is the jake you may have passed up last spring. His beard is now 6 or 7 inches long, his tail fan is full, and he’s nearly the two-year-old you’ll try to kill next spring. He’ll gobbler cluck, yelp, gobble on the roost, strut and work to your calls.

How long is a turkey’s beard?

Beard Length = Age of Turkey 3-5 inches = 1 year 6-9 inches with amber tip = 2 years 10+ inches = 3+ years

How old is a Jake Turkey?

Generally, people define a jake turkey as a one-year-old bird. They can also sometimes be confused with hens in the field. What is a gobbler? A gobbler or tom turkey is a mature male bird. There will be shifts in physical appearance and behavior as they get older, but a gobbler is essentially a gobbler on its 2 year birthday.

What is the difference between a Jake and a tom turkey?

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 do you age a spring Tom Turkey?

How to Age Spring Tom Turkeys. Beard Length = Age of Turkey 3-5 inches = 1 year 6-9 inches with amber tip = 2 years 10+ inches = 3+ years To differentiate juvenile and adult birds from a distance, look at the tail fan while the bird is strutting. A bird with longer feathers in the middle or on the side of the fan is a juvenile…