contest

[3chunter]

Just wondering if atypical birds count in the turkey contest.  If it does.....why?  would it be right for a bird with 2 beards to beat out a big old bird with big spurs? food for thought.............

[Jay]

It's been hashed. We've had a couple of multi bearded high scores posted that can really swing a contest. I don't know. Kind of mixed on the subject. If you only counted typical Toms, the contest would probably be won by a very small margin, and most teams could be in it till the end. Not a bad thing. Something for next year to discuss.

[3chunter]

Yea. That definitely needs to change!  Kindof an unfair playing field as is.

[TS]

In most contest's in the past that I see where they did not have different entries for multi bearded birds only the longest beard counted. That way it was fair for all and all teams of people were in it till the end.

I'm in one this year on another site that only counts beards and spurs.  That one will be a close one till the end.

[Jay]

I like counting weight, because we have heavier birds, but the Florida birds seem to run longer Spurs than our Easterners on the average.

[Reloader]

I think they should count.

When there is a big buck contest, should a guy with a large nontypical not win the prize because another guy shot a much smaller typical?  Not IMO.

[3chunter]

Big difference between deer and turkeys!  With turkeys a good 2 year old with multiple beards can beat an old 4 or 5 year old.   That don't happen with deer.   

[Reloader]

Big difference between deer and turkeys!  With turkeys a good 2 year old with multiple beards can beat an old 4 or 5 year old.   That don't happen with deer.   

I disagree.  I've seen 2yo and 3yo nontypical deer that outscore most 5-6yo typ bucks by a large margin.

[slickyboyboo]

Big difference between deer and turkeys!  With turkeys a good 2 year old with multiple beards can beat an old 4 or 5 year old.   That don't happen with deer.   

I disagree.  I've seen 2yo and 3yo nontypical deer that outscore most 5-6yo typ bucks by a large margin.

Ronny you hit the nail on the head with that one, I have seen this case many times.

I have a 3.5 yr old non-typical 11pt on the wall that out scores my dads 5.5 yr old 9 pt typical by a good margin.

The way I see it, if you are lucky enough to kill an atypical bird, you should be rewarded in the contest with the higher score, not punished, by only being able to use one beard.

[3chunter]

Ask most real turkey hunters and they should agree.  Typical birds and atypical birds should not count in the same contest!  2 different categories are at hand. And since we have only one contest only the biggest beard should count.  When you look at deer in the record books don't they differentiate typical and atypical in to seperate categories. 

[cont520]

Ask most real turkey hunters and they should agree.  Typical birds and atypical birds should not count in the same contest!  2 different categories are at hand. And since we have only one contest only the biggest beard should count.  When you look at deer in the record books don't they differentiate typical and atypical in to seperate categories. 

That makes Perfectly good sence there.

[Gobble!]

I say count them. I have the same chances of killing a multi beard bird as the next guy so why not count them.

[GobbleNut]

I say count them. I have the same chances of killing a multi beard bird as the next guy so why not count them.

Actually, you don't...unless you hunt an area that has the gene pool for multiple-bearded gobblers.  There are some members on here that hunt areas where multiple-bearded toms are not uncommon, and there are some of us that hunt places where they are extremely rare.   

Jim       

[doublegobble]

I have shot both and I don't see any reason they shouldn't count. If you kill a bird with multiple beards, why should you get punished. You can't not count something that is considered a scorable item. I got largest bird in another contest because they didn't count multibearded birds. Did I deserve to win? IMO, no, I didn't have the best scoring bird. Only reason I did was due to the rules of no multibeards.

[guesswho]

Ask most real turkey hunters and they should agree.  Typical birds and atypical birds should not count in the same contest!

I wasn't in the contest, but I'm just curious as to what a real turkey hunter is?  Also not allowing multiple beards to be scored as such doesn't make much sense to me.   If your going to limit the number of beards scored to one, you may as well put a limit on total beard length, spur length and weight.   Say nothing over a 11 1/2" beard, 1 3/8" spurs, and 23 lbs.    You know, to keep it all fair