I Shot An Odd One.

Sounds to me like a skinny Tom . Not sure what you mean by Jake head , if a Tom isn’t fired up for the girls his snood and neck isn’t inflamed


Congrats on a bird tho

 

he was just dressed up for the girls.

 

Most beards get shortened by dragging the ground when strutting and eating , being that weight maybe he didn’t do much of that lol . I killed a young bird years ago that was a Tom but only weighed 19 lbs had 7/8 spurs but the kicker , had a 13 1/8 beard

 

Just a runt of a bird. No doubt an older bird [2 or older] that didn't get enough groceries when he was little fella. There's big and little people, and the same goes for turkeys.

 

Yep. Check into a "Mossy Head" turkey. It's a dwarf bird with all the bells and whistles of a stud tom.

 

Could be just a small Tom , first Rio Tom I ever killed only weighed 16 lbs , had a 8” beard and 1/2 spurs .. Just a small ToM , I called him Tiny Tom and have him in a dead mount hanging off an old fence post ..I kinda bag on it for being small to a buddy , he says you know how long I’ve been Turkey hunting .. I’m like Nope .. he say 10 yrs and I’ve never seen a Tom I’d be thrilled with that bird , just mounted my 24 lb in full Strut .. it looks like a giant next to Tiny Tom … The tiny Tom fan fully open fits inside the fan of my last seasons 24lber , with 1.5 “ left all the way around .. although that 24 liber fan is damn near as big as I’ve seen on a Rio .. But my bet is that bird you shot … he’s a MiNI Tom not a Jake .. biologist buddy said my Tiney Tom was likely a 2 yr old … and this season I never had one come in .. sucks cus I only heard one gobbler all season , and someone must have got him cus last two hunts nothing no gobbles .. think my spot has too many hogs running around eating the eggs is my guess ..Cus they’re everywhere see them all the time just don’t feel like spending 25 to shoot just one hog when we need to kill a few hundred .. for starters ..

 

I shot a two year old last spring in Maine that weighed 13.7 lbs. I’ve shot two year olds here in PA that were 14-15 lbs. just small birds. I shot a Merriams the other week in Montana that weighed 16 lbs. it also was a two year old.

 

That’s a two year old tom description imo, without any pictures provided. You can check further by the covert feather lengths. Jakes are not fully developed and uneven. I’ve killed “super jakes” before that are basically very early or late? hatched poults that are over 1 year old but not quite 2. Have also killed some low weight old and or short spurred toms that otherwise had all other typical “older” characteristics. Had a “hen with tom plumage” per Mr. Lovett Williams here at the farm for some years that had a 9” thick beard, fuzzy hen head and small body size. She/he/it ran with 5 other Tom’s so the difference was very apparent when I saw it. Have some grainy video of her. Common to see bearded hens here as well, have seen up to 5 in one flock. Killed an erythristic Tom with black primaries some years ago. I guess the point I’m trying to make is there is always something new to see.

Also believe I read a post here a while back by Mr. George about getting a small “Tom” in that had an egg in it. Apologies if I am misreporting that.

 

Called in a three toe tom a couple years back, no evidence of a rear toe on one side. Lots of peculiar feathers. I'm with you on turkeys, when they stop making me breathe ragged breaths I'll stop chasing them. Thanks for the oddball thread.