Whats considered big?

Location would make a difference too, I saw the one beauty from up north put on this forum and the birds weight was smaller than maybe a corn fed bird but for a cottage country bush bird would be huge in my eyes. Sort of like getting a 180lb white tailed buck with a basket rack in the thick bush of eastern ontario vs a 220lb giant racked buck from the corn fields of the south. Which one is big? It all depends.

I got a 16lb jake as my first bird, that was huge to me. This year I got a jake just short of 14lbs and it still seemed big until I shot the almost 22lb tom. They are all big to me, the longer the walk out the bigger they get too :).

My opinion is any bird over 20 lbs. is worth bragging rights around the camp fire. My "choice" would be a much smaller bird for the dinner table...............................Boog

The average weight of an eastern bird is 18-20 lbs in Ontario. Now depending on what strain of birds were released in the area weight can change a bit up or down. Back in the days of the trades, birds that came from MI or NY and even NJ was the lightest strain but birds that came from MO were much heavier and would tip the scales over the 23-24 lb make which gave some areas the weight.

As said above weight has nothing to do with how good one maybe be, it all depends what strain of birds you happened to get at the start.

I would agree anything 20 and up is great and 25 is a whopper. What I have noticed is where you hunt in Ontario the Tom,s have different shapes, the birds here in Peterborough seem to be thinner and longer then the one,s over in the Orangeville area with them being shorter and fatter .

Hey thanks for the replays guys. Like my wife always tells me "size doesn't matter". But I definitely notice a difference in the meat on the tom though. I've eaten turkey all week. Legs and thighs, than turkey soup, than a turkey casserole and that was only the meat used from the legs and thighs!

Most Toms I've got are between 20 to 21 Lbs. the biggest being 24.5 lbs. with beards ranging from 9.5 inches to 11.5 inches.
Spurs from 1/4 of an inch to one inch.
How big is big? We've been having pot luck supper with the Turkeys so I guess 20 lb bird will suffice for this.
Now for my wife and myself a nice Jake under 20 lbs. is plenty.
Having said that. I wonder how many pounds of Turkey one can buy with $50.00 bucks without having to wake up 4:00 AM to beat the crowds.
But then you won't hear the gobbles and the singing of the birds that goes with it, would you...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by huntrfishr

Most Toms I've got are between 20 to 21 Lbs. the biggest being 24.5 lbs. with beards ranging from 9.5 inches to 11.5 inches.
Spurs from 1/4 of an inch to one inch.
How big is big? We've been having pot luck supper with the Turkeys so I guess 20 lb bird will suffice for this.
Now for my wife and myself a nice Jake under 20 lbs. is plenty.
Having said that. I wonder how many pounds of Turkey one can buy with $50.00 bucks without having to wake up 4:00 AM to beat the crowds.
But then you won't hear the gobbles and the singing of the birds that goes with it, would you...

---

Yep, turkey hunting definitely is not a cost effective way to obtain poultry......priceless experience however.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mox72

Yep, turkey hunting definitely is not a cost effective way to obtain poultry......priceless experience however.

---

The meat tastes better from a wild bird though, in my opinion, being successful and still make it to work on time is priceless :).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GERRYL

ill take a 21 lb bird any day of the week. nice size . to answer your question I think any turkey 20lb or greater is a big one

---

Exactly what I aim for.
Above 20lbs is big for me. Above 25lbs is Monster.

Any bird I'm fortunate enough to put a tag on is a big bird. Last season my jake outweighed my tom by a few pounds bit the tom had bigger beard and spurs. Just hoping to get one in range this season.

outback