spectr17
06-05-2003, 08:12 PM
Ed Dentry, Rocky Mtn News
How turkeys measure up just part of the hunt
April 29, 2003
Spring turkey hunters who've known the thrill of calling in a big gobbler and the labors of lugging it back to civilization might like to know how their bird stacks up in the record books.
There are records, of course. And a scoring system, kept for more than 20 years by the National Wild Turkey Federation in Edgefield, S.C. A gobbler's score is based on its weight, total length of spurs and length of beard (or beards), according to a specific formula.
The scores themselves might be meaningless to many hunters but the act of scoring wild turkeys has helped the NWTF compile some fascinating details about the world's biggest chicken.
Weight, for example. Hunters have every right to be impressed with, say, a 22-pound mature tom. To keep that in perspective, I am remembering a day, decades ago, when I delivered a small Eastern jake to a friend in a tackle shop for weighing.
"This is a big pheasant," he joked. "Ten pounds."
Even most 2-year-old gobblers weigh, on average, about 18 pounds. The 2-year-old Rio Grande turkey I carried home a few weeks ago weighed 20 pounds.
But the list of monarch gobblers can humble even someone who never would stoop to serving a 10-pound turkey. The heaviest Merriam's, or mountain, turkey registered with the NWTF weighed 31.3 pounds. It was taken in Ohio, where the breed obviously was transplanted.
The heaviest native Merriam's turkey from Colorado weighed 26.2 pounds.
Now hear this: The heaviest Rio Grande and Eastern turkeys each weighed 35.8 pounds. Their gobbles must have sounded like Johnny Cash with a frog in his throat.
The list of boss gobblers also is broken down into spur length and beard length. While a 1-inch spur can appear sharp and deadly, imagine pointy scimitars of 2.25 inches, the longest recorded.
Beards abound in the records. While an average mature gobbler sports an 8- to 9-inch beard, the top birds are Eastern, more than 18 inches; Rio Grande, more than 15 inches; and Merriam's, more than 13 inches. A friend suggests that Merriam's beards are shorter from dragging them up so many steep, Rocky Mountain slopes.
While most gobblers have one beard, a few sport a spectacular array of breast protrusions. The most on record is nine beards.
For scoring purposes, gobblers are split into typical and non-typical categories. A typical gobbler has one beard and one spur on each leg. A non-typical gobbler has more than one beard and/or more than two spurs.
For the record, the highest-scoring typical turkey of all the breeds was a Merriam's from South Carolina (another fat transplant), with a score of 114.375. The highest-ranking non-typical turkey was an eight-bearded Eastern from Wisconsin that scored 194.
The records and a scoring sheet are posted at http://www.nwtf.org., the organization's Web site. The site also features a handy calculator to help hunters convert 1/16-inch measurements to decimals and compute their turkey's score.
To see where your turkey fits in the scheme of things, add its weight to the total length of spurs multiplied by 10. Then multiply total beard length by two and add that to the weight and spur score.
The Web site explains the rules, including the precise measurements that must be taken and how to enter them as records.
According to the formula, a 25-pound typical Rio Grande turkey with a 10.5-inch beard and 1.25-inch spurs would score 71 - surely a fine gobbler but four points shy of making the Top 20 list.
Aside from the scoring game, there are other good reasons to check out the Turkey Federation's Web site. Its chapters help fund transplant, research and habitat projects that benefit wild turkeys and other wildlife. Its members also share turkey-hunting experiences and teach others how to hunt and appreciate wild turkeys. The Web site lists contacts for 26 chapters in Colorado.
It also describes the history of turkey hunting, provides recorded calls of wild turkeys and shares tidbits about the birds.
Fact, for example: A mature turkey is covered with 5,000-6,000 feathers.
Unknown: Which one of my compulsive turkey hunter pals counted them.
dentrye@RockyMountainNews.com or (303) 892-5481.
How turkeys measure up just part of the hunt
April 29, 2003
Spring turkey hunters who've known the thrill of calling in a big gobbler and the labors of lugging it back to civilization might like to know how their bird stacks up in the record books.
There are records, of course. And a scoring system, kept for more than 20 years by the National Wild Turkey Federation in Edgefield, S.C. A gobbler's score is based on its weight, total length of spurs and length of beard (or beards), according to a specific formula.
The scores themselves might be meaningless to many hunters but the act of scoring wild turkeys has helped the NWTF compile some fascinating details about the world's biggest chicken.
Weight, for example. Hunters have every right to be impressed with, say, a 22-pound mature tom. To keep that in perspective, I am remembering a day, decades ago, when I delivered a small Eastern jake to a friend in a tackle shop for weighing.
"This is a big pheasant," he joked. "Ten pounds."
Even most 2-year-old gobblers weigh, on average, about 18 pounds. The 2-year-old Rio Grande turkey I carried home a few weeks ago weighed 20 pounds.
But the list of monarch gobblers can humble even someone who never would stoop to serving a 10-pound turkey. The heaviest Merriam's, or mountain, turkey registered with the NWTF weighed 31.3 pounds. It was taken in Ohio, where the breed obviously was transplanted.
The heaviest native Merriam's turkey from Colorado weighed 26.2 pounds.
Now hear this: The heaviest Rio Grande and Eastern turkeys each weighed 35.8 pounds. Their gobbles must have sounded like Johnny Cash with a frog in his throat.
The list of boss gobblers also is broken down into spur length and beard length. While a 1-inch spur can appear sharp and deadly, imagine pointy scimitars of 2.25 inches, the longest recorded.
Beards abound in the records. While an average mature gobbler sports an 8- to 9-inch beard, the top birds are Eastern, more than 18 inches; Rio Grande, more than 15 inches; and Merriam's, more than 13 inches. A friend suggests that Merriam's beards are shorter from dragging them up so many steep, Rocky Mountain slopes.
While most gobblers have one beard, a few sport a spectacular array of breast protrusions. The most on record is nine beards.
For scoring purposes, gobblers are split into typical and non-typical categories. A typical gobbler has one beard and one spur on each leg. A non-typical gobbler has more than one beard and/or more than two spurs.
For the record, the highest-scoring typical turkey of all the breeds was a Merriam's from South Carolina (another fat transplant), with a score of 114.375. The highest-ranking non-typical turkey was an eight-bearded Eastern from Wisconsin that scored 194.
The records and a scoring sheet are posted at http://www.nwtf.org., the organization's Web site. The site also features a handy calculator to help hunters convert 1/16-inch measurements to decimals and compute their turkey's score.
To see where your turkey fits in the scheme of things, add its weight to the total length of spurs multiplied by 10. Then multiply total beard length by two and add that to the weight and spur score.
The Web site explains the rules, including the precise measurements that must be taken and how to enter them as records.
According to the formula, a 25-pound typical Rio Grande turkey with a 10.5-inch beard and 1.25-inch spurs would score 71 - surely a fine gobbler but four points shy of making the Top 20 list.
Aside from the scoring game, there are other good reasons to check out the Turkey Federation's Web site. Its chapters help fund transplant, research and habitat projects that benefit wild turkeys and other wildlife. Its members also share turkey-hunting experiences and teach others how to hunt and appreciate wild turkeys. The Web site lists contacts for 26 chapters in Colorado.
It also describes the history of turkey hunting, provides recorded calls of wild turkeys and shares tidbits about the birds.
Fact, for example: A mature turkey is covered with 5,000-6,000 feathers.
Unknown: Which one of my compulsive turkey hunter pals counted them.
dentrye@RockyMountainNews.com or (303) 892-5481.