I shot a few gobbers,the biggest would weigh about 10 pounds.How big do they get in the U.S??

Fifteen pounds is big, twenty is huge for wild birds. Your ten pounders will be much better to eat though. I'm leaving this afternoon. hOpe our hunt is even half as sucessful as yours.

Perry

I had three gobblers strutting in my backyard this morning. Nice way to start the day.

I've filled 8/9 tags so far this spring and planning on hunting this weekend. Hope to get my last bird as I am leaving for Canada next week.

Our turkeys here can get up to 25lbs, but they probably average around 18-20lb. I don't mess around with weighing them.

Man, those sound like jakes or smaller. They run about 23-27# here for a mature bird. A few bigger. The one below is on the light end of that range - 24# as I recall. Shot with a Scott 10 bore and blackpowder



Brent

I killed a 22lb bird a couple of weeks ago and I also have a bunch strutting in the yard. NFW I would shoot one of them though!!

In Michigan a BIG turkey would typically reach into the low 20 pound range. Most turkey hunters in Michigan (and perhaps elsewhere?) seem to be more interested in beard and spur length, which is the basis for the "record book" versus weight. Whenever a discussion as to the "size" of the turkey comes up it is always these items that are mentioned first rather than weight.

Good on ya James.
For everyone else, We saw tons of turkeys running out in the paddocks last year when James and I were out goat culling there in New Zealand.

Ours in Wisconsin average a bit bigger than some, I'm told. The full-grown toms I've shot here have all been around 20 pounds. A really big one here will be 25+. The one I got last week was 19. Hens will go about 10 (we can shoot them in the fall season.)

The Rio Grande variety found in most of Texas is probably a bit smaller than the Eastern. A few might go bigger than 15 pounds, 20 pounds would be hugh, and 12 pounds typical.

Remember, these are birds that can and MUST fly to survive, so even though they look big, they're not all that heavy.

I shot the biggest turkey I have ever killed last weekend here in TX. We weighed one my wife killed 2 years and it was 25.5lbs. This bird was quite a bit bigger.
I wish I would have weighed him, but I would estimate 27lbs at least. He had a head nearly as big as mine.

Any big over 20 is very nice I wack one this morning at 18. I couple of buddy and myself shot some in SD. a couple of years back the smallest was 20 the biggest was 28 and that was big bird.

Top Predator, what kind of turkeys are those? You must have a liberal bag limit!!

Brent, I like that old shotgun...that's cool!!!

I would say most of our turkeys range around 17-18 lbs or so..We had a great turkey season. My son and I each shot two gobblers and one had 1 1/2" spurs...big old tom. I love hunting turkeys and we also hunt for sheds, trap hogs etc. I got a pretty good scare from a rattler this year also!!!! We've killed 3 this year..one over 5'.

A cactus blooming in S. Texas



A homemade wing with a mesquite handle

My daughter shot a 14 1/2 lb jake saturday. About the smallest jakes I hear about around here (Ohio) is 12 lb. Mature gobblers mostly go around low to mid 20's. A friend shot an 18 pounder Tuesday with a double beard and 7/8 inch spurs. The double beard is very rare around here.

How big they are depends on:

1. Age
2. Subspecies
3. Quality of forage

Birds in the 19 and 20 pound range 2yrs years and older are pretty common in Alabama. In South Carolina I have yet to kill one that weighs more than 19lbs. 2yr and older birds in this area average between 15 and 17lbs. This is due to forage and I believe there is some Osceola hybridization going on here. Osceolas are the smallest body weight subspecies. Jakes (short spurs 1/4" and beards usually under 5") probably average about 12lbs here.

My guess is an 18 pounder would be a whopper in New Zealand.

Cooking tip. Skin the legs and immerse them in a chicken boullion broth in a crock pot set on low over night. The next morning you can take the legs out of the broth pull the meat off the bones and pull all the tendons out. Chop up the meat and use it in whatever recipe you desire

I think any tom thats at least 3 years will be over 20 pounds here.

I don't know what sort of turkey they are,we do get a few white ones and the odd brown one. We have no bag limits or seasons turkey are seen as pests on some farms and to be shot on sight. The farmer asked us to shot the gobbers and leave the hens and young birds so he can fatten them up

Going to NZ the first of June for Tahr etc and would like to get a turkey from down under. It is my understanding they are transplanted Meriams.

My best this season was a Rio at about 27 lbs, and the best spurs I have taken thus far.



10" beard and the bird was covered in scabs and scars from fighting. Great hunt and a good bird.
This is the first year I have taken my limit of three mature goblers.

The four birds killed on my farm in Tennessee weighed 21, 23,24, and 30 lbs... The 30 lb'er was the biggest body bird we've ever killed, the previous record for the farm was 27 lbs.

Shot my first Rio Grande bird two weeks ago-a jake with 5" beard (plus 4 short tufts of 5-8 hairs each), 3/4" spurs, and it weighed 15 lbs.