Sky, need help for a potential record!

[grouseguy]

Sky or anyone who knows (I'm no turkey expert, but I know where to come for the answers[^])...I have a close friend in Simpson County, who took what he believes to be a record book non-typical turkey this morning (5/3/03) on his family farm. The gobbler had six beards with the following measurements:

7 3/8"
9"
9 2/8"
9 3/8"
10 3/8"
10 6/8"

It also sported spurs of 1" each and weighed 21 lbs. The bird has been weighed in front of witnesses and is being preserved whole for mounting.

First off, does this appear to be a record book bird? and if so, what steps does he need to take to get it confirmed?

BTW Sky, he is a member of the Bowling Green NWTF chapter.

[Multidigits]

Well, it's not a world record by a long shot. The world record is 194 and that one will score about 134.50 based on what you've posted.

Don't know what the state record is???

[grouseguy]

Multi or anyone...how do you score a turkey? My friend said he thought this one would score over 150, but Multi says 134...How do you take the raw numbers and calculate a score?

[GSP]

I do believe you add the:
Beard(s) length x 2
Combinded spur length x 10
Add weight
*************************
Beard Weight
7.375
9.000
9.250
9.375
10.375
10.750
56.125
<u>X 2</u>
<b>112.250</b>

Spurs
1.000
1.000
<u>X10</u>
<b>20.000</b>

Weight
<b>21.000</b>
****
<b>TOTAL</b>
<b>153.250</b>

[Multidigits]

Weight + length of beard(s) x 2 + both spurs X 10

Gsp is correct. I missed one of the beards. Sorry.

[GSP]

....and I forgot to add something too. ONE HECK OF A BIRD! Congrats to your friend GG. That was probably a early 3 year old or a late 2 year old bird. That is a heck of a bird though.

[P. Beyer]

World Record or not,.......

[:0][:p]Sounds like on heck of a bird[:p][:0]

Tell that Fella' <i><b>"Congrats"</b></i>

"It makes no difference whether I got anything; it has to do with how the day was spent"

Fred Bear

[schuyler olt]

That scoring formula is accurate. What a turkey! Hopefully we'll get to see it at some of the shows. I have some official forms to use to submit it to Edgefield. Send me a private email with his addy and I'll get one to him.

[grouseguy]

Guys, I've been doing a little research and found the following non-typical records from the NWTF web site. Apparently this bird is just outside of the top 20 in the nation and since none are from KY, this may be a new state record for non-typcials(if we keep state records). Where is Sky when you need him?[:D][:o)]

Eastern - Best Overall Non-Typical

Hunter # Beards Total Length Score Date State Hometown
1 John Fryatt 8 70.875 194 4/19/89 WI Waukesha, WI
2 Steven Bock 9 72.6875 193.75 5/11/95 WI Milwaukee, WI
3 Mark Trevisano 8 70.562 193.125 4/28/90 MO St. Louis, MO
4 Chick Shaddox Jr. 7 66.875 183.75 5/1/86 AR Jane, MO
5 Brad Hall 9 69.625 178.875 5/6/99 MO Jackson, MS
6 Mark Koehler 9 67 178.5 4/25/92 MO Humansville, MO
7 William Foley III 8 62.5 174.5 4/6/87 AL Montgomery, AL
8 George Paulson 7 64.75 172.86 5/1/96 IA Cedar Rapids, IA
9 Thomas Fawcett 7 57.25 167.25 4/21/89 WI Green Bay, WI
10 Paul Brown 7 60.0625 165.75 4/29/02 MO Brandon, MS
11 Matthew Beard 7 56.8125 164.495 10/22/99 MO Hollister, MO
12 Jody W. Whitt 7 60.5 164 4/7/97 TN Morristown, TN
13 Kenneth Cruce 7 58.625 163.25 5/2/99 MO Kansas City, MO
14 Emit Deel 8 59.375 162.375 12/10/96 VA Birchleaf, VA
15 Gerald Matney Jr. 7 59.25 162 1/4/92 VA Cartersville, VA
16 Todd Kallweit 7 58.75 161.25 10/28/89 MO Wheatland, MO
17 Todd Round 8 56.875 160.75 4/23/01 MO Branson, MO
18 Roland Palmer 7 53.0625 160.625 5/07/02 NY Sherburne, NY
Dean Records 7 58.5 160.625 4/15/02 DE Bridgeville, DE
19 K. A. Boulware Jr. 7 58.5 157.25 4/16/90 SC Rock Hill, SC
20 Timmy Lee Collins 6 52.9375 156.5 4/18/94 MO St. Joseph, MO

For the record, my friend is Shannon Spears from Franklin, Simpson Co., KY and he has been in contact with his local CO and they are contacting the KDFWR today. Shannon and I have been bird hunting (grouse, quail & turkey) buddies for over ten years and he takes his hunting seriously, does a lot of habitat work on their farms, hosts unrelated youth for deer & turkey through their club at their farm, and is very deserving of this trophy.

As a side note for gsp, Shannon is also a german shorthair fancier, but he's still young...I'm sure he'll grow out of it.[;)][:o)][:p][:D]

[grouseguy]

Sorry Sky, I was typing while you were posting...I figured you be in the woods for the final day, but you must of got rained out too. I send the email right now.

[GSP]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">As a side note for gsp, Shannon is also a german shorthair fancier...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

A least you keep high quality friends.

[grouseguy]

gsp, I like to hunt with short-tailed fanciers...that way I get most of the points,[;)][:o)][:p][:D] but his dog does honor real nice.[;)][:o)][:p][:D]

[RDL270]

Great bird!!!! Congrats, I'd recommend taking him to Ernie to get mounted. Trophy of a lifetime needs the best. Check out an earlier thread to get others recommendation on a mounting.

[grouseguy]

I just got an update on a re-scoring by his taxidermist:

Scott Cheek
Back to Nature Taxidermy
Scottsville, KY

Beard #1 11.1250"
Beard #2 10.5000"
Beard #3 9.6250"
Beard #4 9.1250"
Beard #5 9.2500"
Beard #6 7.4375"

TOTAL Beard Length: 57.0625 x 2 = 114.125

Spur #1 1.0000"
Spur #2 1.0625"

TOTAL Spur Length: 2.0625 x 10 = 20.625

TOTAL Weight: 21 lbs

TOTAL SCORE: 155.75

Only .75 out of the top 20 nationally! This has to be the <b>KY State Record Non-Typical</b>!

Sky, I emailed you Shannon's contact info...he would very much like to speak with you. Thanks!

[schuyler olt]

Grouseguy, I probably agree with that. We'll get him officially submitted to Edgefield, and get the word. It may take until about midsummer for them to certify it. Frankly, I've never heard of a Kentucky bird with not only that many beards, but a multibeard with that much length. I'm dying to see a picture of it--he must have looked like he was wearing a tie![:D] The spur length sounds like a two or three year old. Were they pointed on the tips or rounded?

[grouseguy]

Sky, I've not seen the bird (or a picture) at this point, so I'm not sure of the specifics. This is your specialty, so I'll let you get the specs from Shannon when you all speak. I didn't even know how to score a turkey until gsp & multi educated me.[B)][:I] Be prepared when you talk to him...he's still pretty excited and has a ton of questions. Hell, I'm excited for him. Apparently, he has several pictures...maybe you can get a hold of one and post it on the state NWTF web site. I'm sure everyone would like to see this "FREAK"!

[Redneck]

Off the subject, but does rounded spurs as opposed to sharp ones mena that it is an older turkey?

Oh BTW, fantasic bird...

"You better watch where you go and remember where you been
That's the way I see it I'm a Simple Man." Charlie Daniels Band

[GSP]

Usually the longer and sharper are means age. A jake usually has nubs, a 2 year old will be 3/4'-1'and they will be rounded, after that they grow 1/8' or so per year and get sharper. This is only a rough guideline. Some jakes have 1/2' and some 2 year olds have 1/2'. Usually most people use the length to help guess a birds age.

[Multidigits]

Rounded spurs are most likely the result of dusting in rocky areas, assuming it's an adult like gsp says.

[schuyler olt]

A two year old will always have rounded tips on his spurs. A three year old has points, and as they age the spurs will become more curved, and the top edge will begin to take on a fairly sharp edge to it. I have a couple that are sharp enough on the top of the spur to open letters with. Different subspecies have different average lengths. Osceolas are the MacDaddies--1.75 inches is not uncommon. Merriams are at the other end, as they are with beard length. Also, if the Merriam is from rough country, it's very common to find them with broken spurs.

[grouseguy]

Update on the potential record turkey...I spoke with Shannon last night and he has been in contact with the National NWTF, which confirmed that the largest non-typical taken in KY was in the 129 range from 1998, so when confirmed, this bird should <b>DESTROY </b>the existing state record.

Sky has been provided with the contact info and hopefully someone from the State NWTF with be in contact soon to begin the certification process.

[schuyler olt]

I spoke with Shannon last night, and the paperwork has been filled out by his taxidermist, signed in all the right spots, and is on its way. The state record is not the best part of this. The best part is one doggoned excited, thrilled and overjoyed turkey hunter! After talking with him, I'm glad the Good Lord saw fit to send him that bird.

[grouseguy]

Thanks Sky, you must have spoken with him just after I did. I truly appreciate your help.[^][;)]

I don't know if you understand just how special of a man Shannon Spears really is...He's in his early 30's and is a teenage Leukemia survivor. My cousin and hunting buddy was Shannon's guidance counselor at Rowan County High School when he was diagnosed and undergoing treatments and he took Shannon under his wing and we started taking him on hunting and fishing trips with our entire group. Although Shannon was 10-20 years younger than the rest of the group, he fit right in, and 15 years later he is one of my closest friends even though we now live 4 hours apart. Shannon is also active in the South Central NWTF Chapter at Bowling Green and hosts unrelated youth hunters on his family farm for deer and turkey. He also does considerable habitat work on his farm and definitely gives more back to the resource than he ever takes. He is an excellent representative of our sport and is indeed worthy of the honor that is coming his way.

Birdman, we may need to plan a trip to Simpson Co. next year for a quail show at Shannon's and you can do a piece on him and the turkey, which should be finished by the taxidermist by then.

[Birdman]

I'm ready to leave now. Did you get the fax.