What can you glean from this? Plenty! Check the other lists and you'll note that some of the most productive counties in terms of total gobblers will also make the biggest gobbler list. Chester and Fairfield counties make the top 10 in both lists. Also, it's obvious that many of the upstate counties make this biggest bird top 10 list, along with some Piedmont counties. Only Beaufort and Calhoun made it from the Lowcountry. As a general rule, for big gobblers by weight, think upstate. For a good mix of numbers and weight, some Piedmont counties excel.

As a standard to gauge how well these top 10 counties did, the average weight of all adult birds in South Carolina in 2004 was 18.03 pounds per bird. That's certainly a good average size. Also, we won't break down the top counties for juvenile gobblers average, but the typical jake, on a statewide basis, averaged 13.51 pounds.

Now let's examine average beard length. As a reference, the average beard length for adult gobblers on a statewide basis was 9.65 inches. The No. 1 county was Lexington County with a 10.13-inch average, followed very closely by Lee County with a 10.12-inch average length. In third place was Aiken County where gobblers averaged a 10.10-inch beard length. In fourth was Sumter County with a 9.98-inch average beard length. In fifth was Anderson County with a 9.94-inch average length, and in sixth was Colleton with a 9.93 average.

In seventh place was Hampton County with a 9.90 average beard length and Beaufort County was eight with a 9.89 average. The last two of the top 10 were tied, with both Richland and Darlington counties recording an average length of 9.88 average beard length.

The midstate scored well here with Richland, Lexington, Sumter, Aiken and Lee counties all making the list. The Lowcountry was represented with Hampton, Beaufort and Colleton counties on the list. The Upstate, while the leader in the weight of birds, was the least represented part of the state in the beard length category.

For spur lengths, the benchmark guide is the statewide average of 0.98 inch for adult gobblers. Leading the state in this category was Darlington County with a 1.07-inch average. Darlington was also No. 9 in beard length. There was a tie for second at 1.06 inches with Calhoun and Lexington counties. Lexington was No. 1 in beard length and Calhoun was sixth in weight.

In fourth spot on spur length was Marlboro County with a 1.04-inch average, and tied for fifth were Richland and Allendale counties. Richland was also No. 9 in the beard length category. There was also a tie for seventh place between Williamsburg County and Hampton County with a 1.01-inch spur length average. Williamsburg was No. 1 in total harvest and Hampton was No. 7 in average beard length.

Another tie rounds out the final two spots in this top 10 listing with Aiken County and Cherokee County both averaging 1-inch spur length. Aiken County was No. 3 in beard length and Cherokee was No. 2 in average weight per adult gobbler.

Where you hunt turkeys will depend on a variety of factors and I hope some of the information contained here will help you make those choices. Whether you can hunt private land or only WMAs, you've got some good harvest data. If you want to focus on a trophy bird, you can sort through what's important to you and hunt big-bodied birds or those with long beards, good spurs or find a good combination of all.

As for me, I'm partial to a gobbler with long, sharp-hooked spurs, bulky body and a ground-dragging beard. Other than that I'm not too picky -- as long as there are plenty of those kinds of gobblers around.

Make your plans now and enjoy good hunting in 2005.