I shot one with 5 beards today!!!!!

[hunt4food]

Some may not believe this, but I shot a turkey in Washington county this morning and it had 5 beards with the largest being 10.5". Each beard was smaller and they were in a row right up the neck with the largest one at the bottom. I am totally pumped!!! It was only 20.5 pounds and was still a jake due to the fan feathers not all the same length, but it is still the coolest bird I have ever shot. I have some detail pics of the beards, but don't know how to post them. If someone knows how, maybe I can send them to you. I hunted this bird starting Saturday and didn't get him until this morning. He was tough to pull from his 6 hen harem, but he made a mistake today.

[This message has been edited by hunt4food (edited 04-26-2004).]

[Borch]

Go ahead and send them to me at [email protected].

I'll post them tonight when I get home. Seems like a real odd bird. I can't imagine a jake with a 10.5" beard. But the uneven tail certainly points that way.

Congrats!

[Hotspotter]

Awesome! Sounds like a cool bird. What kind of spurs did he have on him? Little nubs means a jake for sure. Tailfeathers are another indicator.

20.5 lbs is a monster of a jake, with most of them coming in at least 2-3lbs less than that! A guy I hunted with two years ago shot a 20.25 lb. jake that strutted like a tom, and even full gobbled like a tom, rather than that higher pitched half-gobble jakes usually do.

Check out the NWTF HSOforum for a scoring calculator to check the score on that bird, as he'd be a pretty good non-typical scorer if he had some spurs. No matter what the score though, that was a great bird....congrats. Can't wait to see the pics!

Joel

[Uncle Grump]

Uff-Da!!!

UG

[hunt4food]

I never even though to score it. The spurs are uneven. 1 spur goes 1 1/8" and the other is only 3/4". My taxidermist said that in a month, his feathers would have been full. I told her I couldn't wait that long to shoot him. He was in full strut when I shot him and he was making a vibrating sound that I have not heard them make before. He came in on the side I did not have a good shot until he was only 12 yards away. I purposely aimed a little high with the 10GA to avoid knocking his block off.

[Borch]

Here are hunt4food's pics.

[This message has been edited by Borch (edited 04-26-2004).]

[Hotspotter]

My guess is that this bird swam up-river from the Prairie Island Nuclear Plant. Now that bird has character! Those spurs are pretty uneven....and I'd agree with the taxidermist that with such spurs and beards, he couldn't remain a jake for long. Had to have been a 2 yr. old.

That vibrating sound was probably part of his spit and drum. When they're right on top of you like that, you can really hear it in their chest. Good shot....12 yards is not easy!

So were you just checking prices with the taxidermist, or are you getting it mounted?

Joel

[hunt4food]

It is getting mounted. Not a full body, just a breast mount without the wings so it won't take up so much room. I have some old barn boards from an old grainery tht was built by my great grandfather. I will build a mushroom shaped plaque out of the barn boards just like the one I saw in the taxidermists book. Should be pretty cool.

[TomBow]

Congrats to you hunt4food! Dang, them birds is purdy!

[J.A.Say.Tree]

AWESOME BIRD!!!

Here's my 2 cents... I highly doubt that this turkey is a jake. I certainly wouldn't question the weight as I killed a juvenile bird last week that went 21 pounds, 6 ounces! Two of the five jakes at his "bachelor party" wore long beards (I'd estimate 8-9 inchers) as well, but it's pretty unlikely that a jake would have a 10.5"er (not to mention another 4 beards... wow!) The true give away, however, is the spur length. I just don't think there is any way a jake has a spur over 1", unless it's one heck of a big bump!! If the spurs came to a point (which is sometimes quite sharp I might add), my guess is this is a mature tom with some strange tail feathers. None-the-less, quite the specimen!!!

CONGRATS!!!