Still absolutely cannot believe it. I've been blessed BEYOND belief last and year and again this year! If our measurements are correct and the NWTF site is up to date...this bird will become the #3 Atypical bird in Alabama.

19# 11 oz.
1 1/4" sharp spurs
6 beards
11 1/4" main beard
9 1/4"
9 1/4"
9 1/4"
7 7/8"
8 1/8"

NWTF Score: 154.6875

I wish I could tell ya'll a story about how I worked with this bird for 2 hours before killing him, etc. but I would be lying. Out on Redstone Arsenal, we've been waiting for the range areas to open for 2 years now and this morning was the first time they've opened since I started turkey hunting. I was really tempted to dive into the mix yesterday and sign up for one of the most sought after areas on the Arsenal along with everybody else, but I've pretty much learned that your chances go up exponentially when you can fool with a bird without any help from your fellow hunters. With that in mind, me and my pal wmd decided to wait until 5:20 yesterday to sign up for an area (Outdoor Rec closes at 5:30) so we could see where everybody was headed. Bill and I were talking and noticed that an area that historically has birds killed in it didn't have a soul in it. PERFECT! He and I signed up for that area and he was gonna stay a little further north with his son and I was gonna go a little further south. I get down there just right and within 5 minutes of slipping to a point of trees to listen, an owl sounds off and a bird gobbles right in front of me about 150 yards away. I slipped back a little from a field edge to make sure I wouldn't be seen and went way up the field, crossed the field, and got in the woods about 150 yards from him. While slipping in, another bird joined in with him (sounded like he was 50 yards from him or so) and about 5 other friends that were gobbling further off. Once it started getting decent light in the woods, I gave a little 3 note tree yelp and got nothing but the turkeys were still gobbling at owls and coyotes. I waited about another 10 minutes, figuring it was plenty enough time for a hen to be on the ground and I started scratching leaves a little bit and purring, went silent for a few seconds and then yelped and cut real aggressive and them and they went nuts gobbling. About 5 minutes later one of them gobbled and I was pretty sure he was on the ground. I just reached down and scratched the leaves a little bit and purred and clucked a few times and then got my gun ready and shut up. In just a few minutes, one of the birds showed up hard to my right at about 60 yards strutting but I was beginning to hear one drumming almost right down my gun barrel so I didn't move and kept looking for the drummer. In just a minute I finally saw him strutting and he just strutted and drummed for a second and then he would drop out and run 5 or 6 steps closer to me, looking at the other turkey and trying to cut him off. He just kept doing that until he was inside 30 yards and I hadn't had a chance to move yet. FINALLY, he zig zagged to his left and my right a little bit and went behind a huge water oak and I made a little move so I would be ready when he popped out. He walked out at 24 yards and stopped and craned his neck and the rest is history. Dead at 6:32, 3 minutes into legal shooting time on Redstone. I walked down there and just thought he had a single, really good beard and I saw that he had good spurs. I immediately got on the phone and called wmd and told him to get down there so hopefully we could get him and his son on a bird. I got my stuff and met them out at the van and not until Bill studied the bird a little did we realize that he had all those beards. Unfortunately, I think most of those birds got henned up bad when they got on the ground because we only heard 2 more single gobbles while listening for one to go to for wmd and his son. I still can't believe I was able to kill such a rare, unique animal like this. I toyed with the notion of not mounting him, but I just couldn't bare the thought of knowing that I'll never kill another one anything like him and I didn't mount him. The shot off beards ought to make for really cool conversation over the mount too!

Wow!!!! That is awesome. Congratulations!

Very nice going,congrats!

Unreal... Way to go!!!!

STUD DADDY....Congrats!!!

Awesome bird! Congrats!

My goodness what a bird, congrats bud

That is awesome! Tremendous bird!

Awesome bird, no kidding a lifetime bird

congratulations

GOOD LAWD! Congrats man! Can't wait to hear the story! I'm tellin ya, your name should be el naturell!

that's like killing a B&C whitetail in Alabama. Congrats!

Well, we've lost you for good. Happy trails!

Congrats, Chad.

Congrats chad, you might as well hang it up, no 1 on aldeer will probably kill one that big true bird of 10 lifetimes. I can't wait to go find a certain email talking about a certain place sucks to turkey hunt.

absolute stud!!!!!!!!1

way to go jughead

Had to edit it guys. I HAVE NO IDEA what Russ and I were thinking when we measured that main beard. It was actually 11 1/4", not 13 1/4". Also, a few of the witnessed measurements changed a little bit. We also weighed him on a nice animal scale at my vet's office and got 19# 11 oz. so we were a little high on that too. Once I get everything sent in, the bird will become the #3 atypical bird for Alabama. What a beautiful animal! Gonna make an awesome mount!

Absolutely awesome JUGHEAD. I would need plastic surgery to get the s##t eating grin off my face. LOL! Congrats!!!

Cool note on the taxidermy front. My taxi and I were looking the bird over evaluating whether the skin was fit to use or not (it's not...roughed him up pretty good at 24 steps) and he pointed out that those 2 top beards were most likely broken off by shot hitting them. Thankfully, ONE strand was not damaged on the 2nd beard so that we could get a measurement. Also, this was the coolest thing ever....my taxidermist had JUST gotten a beautiful bird in that was only hit right in the head with an absolute perfect skin. The bird weighed 19 lb. 8 oz. and he was gonna throw it away (the guy only wanted the fan mounted) but just couldn't do it because it was perfect. He had just skinned it out and was gonna try to find a place to fit it in a freezer when I called him. Unbelievable! The coloring is exactly like my bird too!

And the incredible streak of good fortune continues - sure hate you didn't play the gazillion dollar lottery last week. We wouldn't be hearing about that crazy McDonald's chick if you had, because you would probably would have had the single winning ticket!

Glad everything worked out for you with your trophy bird and the taxidermist. Is the same guy that did your deer?

Congrats Chad! I know you've done your homework and if anyone deserved to kill a bird like that, it was you.

Chad you are one fortunate guy,some of us have hunted for many years,and have never even been in the same woods with a bird of that caliber,congratulations on a bird of a lifetime. I hope you can top that bird,but it wont be easy. keep after em Chad you are the man!!!