FINAL WARNING! Scoring Pictures & Measurements

[Gobblestopper]

I am hoping by now you have all had a chance to view some of the scoring pictures that are being posted in some of the other team's kill threads. Hopefully you are learning from the mistakes that are being made by other contest members and will not be repeating those same mistakes when it comes to weighing, measuring and taking photos of your birds.

Per contest rules, you must take a picture of your bird ON a scale.  That means the whole bird and the scale in the same picture. If you can not clearly see the weight on the scale face in this picture take another closer shot of the scale face and a reasonable portion of the bird on the scale as a back-up evidence photo.  Take multiple photos from slightly different angles to make sure there is not any glare on the scale face that would prevent being able to see the weight.  No "bird ON a scale" photo and you will be given a default weight of 14 lbs.

The beard photo must show the measurement from base to longest hair with the beard attached to the bird.  Do not remove the beard first.  Take a second photo of the beard length with it removed as a back-up evidence photo only. 

Do NOT remove the legs from the bird before photographing the spur measurements.  Make sure the starting index point of your measurement  is properly positioned at the point where the spur exits the leg skin. Just like shown in the contest rules scoring thread spur measurement picture.

Be honest with all your scoring measurements and do not stretch the truth. You do not want to be the guy that gets a down graded score or worse yet NO score for your bird due to improper measurements / photographs!

Any questions PM me and good luck with your hunts and photos!       

[ncturkey]

Man after you made this post I went back and looked at the other teams measurements. I fill bad for those guys. Even though this is for fun be sure to take your measurements properly. I take 50-60 pictures of my bird. I take a few of each measurement just to make sure they are what we need. Get help if you can. Use a flexable tape for the spurs to measure along the hook of the spur. Make sure you can see where the beard comes out of the skin to the longest strand in the beard. Try to use a digital scale for the weight if you can. Good Luck everone. See ya, Mike

[OntarioGobbler]

uuuuuummmmmm........it is a fun interent forum contest. The beauty of the sport of turkey hunting is in the moment of the hunt first and foremost. Next to that is those few minutes when standing with your bird after a kill. Then  it is the re-telling of the hunt with your buddy. Even if he was sitting right beside you when it happened, you revel in the practice of re-living it all for him right after. I live for those moments. All this pressure about how pics are taken, what pics are taken, when they are taken is taking away from the moment for me and it hasn't even happened yet!

The other thing about a true tukrey hunter is his love for re-telling his stories of hunts. Like fishermen the size of everything gets bigger with every telling lol. A turkey hunters right if he so chooses. Heck I'll round everything down just to not get guys worked up if I post a bird.

RELAX boys. If someone shoots a score of 55 and posts it as a 56 I will congratulate him and enjoy hearing how the hunt went. My only real concern is how my hunt goes. That big old long spurred gobbler gives me all the worry I need. I'm not worried about fun contests. They are just that....fun.

[Odessa]

OntarioGobbler, you have hit the nail squarely on the head.  I am 55 and have hunted nearly every year since I was a boy of about 8 (military duties kept me out of the woods for even one day during several years). In all those years I have never entered any type of hunting contest before (not even a big buck contest, none, period).  I have very much enjoyed the team camaraderie that has developed with you guys on the Headhunters team, even though we have never met.  That said I am having second thoughts about the wisdom of participating in this hunting contest - hunting is an essential part of my life and I am beginning to feel as if the contest trivializes the essence of the hunt.  I will keep the pact I have made and honestly post the numbers of what I take (assuming I am fortunate enough to kill a gobbler this season) - but I will admit it is nagging at me and I don't quite know why.

[Gobblestopper]

OntarioGobbler,

All points well taken and I apologize to you and all other team members if my possibly over-the-top efforts to foster some team spirit and provide a little leadership and guidance has in anyway worried anyone or taken away from their true turkey hunting moment.

Be assured that it has all been done in the context of having 15 out of 16 team members that to my knowledge have either never scored a turkey or been a past OG contest participant, or both.

This team does have the potential to be competitive in this contest far beyond the low-post, no-name, bottom-of-the-barrel, newbie, underdog reputation that Team 12 started out with and our team members know and believe it.  In my mind, it would be a real tragedy if any of our team members walked away from this contest without receiving full recognition for the bird they worked so hard for or possibly feeling that they had let their team mates down simply by not having the required measurements or photos.

At this point, as the Head Hunters team captain and as a first time contest participant myself, I have done all I know to organize and prepare our team members for participating in this contest and only our team members will truly know if any of it made any difference.

Good Luck to all, and above all else don't forget to have some FUN!!  
     

uuuuuummmmmm........it is a fun interent forum contest. The beauty of the sport of turkey hunting is in the moment of the hunt first and foremost. Next to that is those few minutes when standing with your bird after a kill. Then  it is the re-telling of the hunt with your buddy. Even if he was sitting right beside you when it happened, you revel in the practice of re-living it all for him right after. I live for those moments. All this pressure about how pics are taken, what pics are taken, when they are taken is taking away from the moment for me and it hasn't even happened yet!

The other thing about a true tukrey hunter is his love for re-telling his stories of hunts. Like fishermen the size of everything gets bigger with every telling lol. A turkey hunters right if he so chooses. Heck I'll round everything down just to not get guys worked up if I post a bird.

RELAX boys. If someone shoots a score of 55 and posts it as a 56 I will congratulate him and enjoy hearing how the hunt went. My only real concern is how my hunt goes. That big old long spurred gobbler gives me all the worry I need. I'm not worried about fun contests. They are just that....fun.