2014 Turkey contest

All about the 2013 Gobbler Nation turkey hunting contest.
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2014 Turkey contest

Post by Gobbler »

Folks wanted a discussion on next years contest set up. We have had two years now under our belts and the contest has grown. It is a just for fun way to make the Turkey season interesting. The following are the current rules. Read them over and make any positive suggestions you like to improve the contest.

Here is the current rules.


March 1- June 1 2013

5 man team.
Previous years winning team can stay intact.
Sign up sheet will be posted . Need your name and last three years kill total. So we can divide up teams fairly.
10 birds can be scored per team.
2 birds per member.
Teams must use each members birds in the team score first.
Only a team member can upgrade one of his own birds.
Alternate gobblers. If a member cannot hunt or has a bad year and does not kill a gobbler or kills one gobbler.
His team mates can kill extra birds to replace any unfilled slots. Once an alternate bird is used it cannot be upgraded.

Scoring = NWTF scoring calculator
All birds must have measurement pictures to score. All birds must be photographed to enter.
If you forget or don't take a measurement picture the score will default as follows:
Gobblers:
spur default...0.5 inches
beard default... 7.0 inches
weight default... 15.0 lbs.
Jakes:
spur default... 0.25 inches
Beard default... 2.0 inches
weight default... 11.0 lbs.
So its to your advantage to measure but if you don't or forget. Substitute appropriate score.
Highest 10 bird total wins and that team gets their team name and usuer names cyber engraved on the coveted GOBBLER"S CUP!!

LETS HAVE FUN. I think this is set up so people will have fun with less pressure. REMEMBER HONOR SYSTEM. :thumbup:
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Re: 2014 Turkey contest

Post by GobbleNut »

I think the only change I would recommend would be that any one team member can only score three birds max. That is, if there are "replacement" birds used by a team to cover for other team members that do not kill two birds, they can only use one replacement bird each per other team member.

The reason for this recommendation: This is supposed to be a "Team" contest. Allowing a "ringer" who gets to hunt a lot and kill lots of birds to throw in as many birds as a team needs to fill their limit is kind of taking away from the "team" concept, in my opinion.

...And I know from past discussions that this other one is a lost cause, but I also believe that multi-beards should only be allowed to add three extra points to their score per beard. Those of us that hunt where there are no multi-bearded gobblers are at a distinct disadvantage with the current scoring system.

Then again, if everything stays the same,...I will still gladly play along!
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Re: 2014 Turkey contest

Post by TRKYHTR »

My thought on the multiple bearded turkey is this; If you want to use all of the beards on a multiple bearded turkey you can't double the beard score. Otherwise you can just use the longest beard and double it to add to the total score. To be able to add all the beards together and then double them is not a fair score. Alot of the double beards that I saw this year were 2 year olds and scored better than a 5-6 year old gobbler with some mean hooks. Thats just not right. Just my .02

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Re: 2014 Turkey contest

Post by Shooter »

Those are almost my same words Joe.
I have never liked the way they score multi beards.
You can take a little runt turkey with under 1" spurs at 17 Lbs, with a thin scraggly 8" and a few strands of a 5" second beard, that will out score a true Boss Tom with a lot of everything.
Makes me sick!!
I shot one this season myself that would have not even made 60 points, but his little extra sprig jumped him to 70". Did not actually use the bird, but you get the point.

BTW Jim, thats not a bad idea.
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Re: 2014 Turkey contest

Post by TS »

Multi bearded birds I think ought to have it's longest beard count and that is it. THat puts everyone on a level playing field no matter where you hunt. Just my two cents. :salute:
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Re: 2014 Turkey contest

Post by guesswho »

GobbleNut wrote:And I know from past discussions that this other one is a lost cause, but I also believe that multi-beards should only be allowed to add three extra points to their score per beard. Those of us that hunt where there are no multi-bearded gobblers are at a distinct disadvantage with the current scoring system.
I hope they change it too! Then I hope you kill one with ten beards, that would teach you, ya ole coot! :lol:
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Re: 2014 Turkey contest

Post by guesswho »

I think if a turkey weighs over 17 lbs. then each additional pound should only count as a 1/4 lb. Not all of us hunt where the birds weigh 25lbs or more. Also any turkey with spurs over 1 1 /4" I think you should only count the longest of the two spurs. Not all of us hunt where the spurs are typically an inch or longer.

Oh, and if you hunt turkeys that most of us could kill with rocks you should have to divide the total score by two! And deduct 1/2 point for every time the turkey gobbles, not all of us hunt where they gobble good. Blah blah blah :thefinger: :lol:
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Re: 2014 Turkey contest

Post by gophert »

Heck...since we are discussing..I think we should get an extra 10 pts if we get the kill on video.....if we do a turkey dance at the end that's an extra 5 pts. :grin:

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Re: 2014 Turkey contest

Post by Johndoe »

As much as I despise the N_WTF I think we should use the accepted standard for scoring. I had never seen a 3 beard turkey here but watched a kid kill one this year. It is what it is. Iowa has heavy birds. Alabama has multi beards. Score what you killed and let it ride. Its just a game.


Johndoe :toothy7:
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There are no numbers on any of my clocks below 8. Then all of a sudden, 2 days before turkey season they appear. Then right after the season they disappear.
What's up with that
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Re: 2014 Turkey contest

Post by davisd9 »

Johndoe wrote:As much as I despise the N_WTF I think we should use the accepted standard for scoring. I had never seen a 3 beard turkey here but watched a kid kill one this year. It is what it is. Iowa has heavy birds. Alabama has multi beards. Score what you killed and let it ride. Its just a game.


Johndoe :toothy7:
Agreed!

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Re: 2014 Turkey contest

Post by timbrhuntr »

davisd9 wrote:
Johndoe wrote:As much as I despise the N_WTF I think we should use the accepted standard for scoring. I had never seen a 3 beard turkey here but watched a kid kill one this year. It is what it is. Iowa has heavy birds. Alabama has multi beards. Score what you killed and let it ride. Its just a game.


Johndoe :toothy7:
Agreed!

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He just forgot one thing and that is FLORIDA has long spurred birds :roll: :toothy7:
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Re: 2014 Turkey contest

Post by Johndoe »

timbrhuntr wrote:
davisd9 wrote:
Johndoe wrote:As much as I despise the N_WTF I think we should use the accepted standard for scoring. I had never seen a 3 beard turkey here but watched a kid kill one this year. It is what it is. Iowa has heavy birds. Alabama has multi beards. Score what you killed and let it ride. Its just a game.


Johndoe :toothy7:
Agreed!

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He just forgot one thing and that is FLORIDA has long spurred birds :roll: :toothy7:

Very few multi beards and small compared to other states. It all washes in the end.
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There are no numbers on any of my clocks below 8. Then all of a sudden, 2 days before turkey season they appear. Then right after the season they disappear.
What's up with that
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Re: 2014 Turkey contest

Post by GobbleNut »

Here are some facts about the gobblers from this area,...just for informational purposes in this discussion as to whether everybody competes on a level playing field in this contest when using the Dave Harbour/NWTF scoring system.

I have scored hundreds of Merriams gobblers from around here. Here are some stats:

Average NWTF score of a two-year-old gobbler = 50 plus/minus a few points
Average NWTF score of a three-year-old gobbler = 55 +/-
Average NWTF score of gobblers suspected to be 4+ years old = 60 +/-
Highest scoring Merriams gobbler ever measured over 30+ year period of scoring method use = 70.75
Number of gobblers scored between 63-70 points = ~ ten
Number of gobblers measured with multiple-beards = one,....had two beards....9" and 2.5"
Number of live gobblers observed thought to have multiple beards = zero (out of thousands observed)
Average beard length of mature gobblers = 9 - 9.5 inches (longest measured 11.25 inches)
Average weight of mature gobblers = 18 - 19 pounds (heaviest weighed 22.5 pounds)
Average spur length all age classes = .875 - 1 inch (longest measured 1.5",...have seen three gobblers in 49 years of spring gobbler hunting with spurs in the this category)

Anybody want to compare these stats with the birds you hunt?.....
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Re: 2014 Turkey contest

Post by guesswho »

I'd take my rocks and move.
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Re: 2014 Turkey contest

Post by hawglips »

Keep it simple. They're just turkeys. If rules get complicated, the fun of a contest gets lost in the shuffle.
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Re: 2014 Turkey contest

Post by GobbleNut »

guesswho wrote:I'd take my rocks and move.
I would, but I've got way too many rocks....Ya'Goob! :toothy7:
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Re: 2014 Turkey contest

Post by Jaybird »

You can't worry about what states guys hunt or it gets crazy trying to divide teams up, plus a lot of us hunt multiple states. My main concern is the teams are divided up evenly, and keeping the big guns divided up evenly. I also feel one hunter should be able to enter one extra bird a piece maxium to replace a needed bird to make the minimum requirement. Each team HAS to have a team captain in charge or nothing gets done. This year was a disaster as far as teams not getting their birds scored with no one making an effort to follow up.
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Re: 2014 Turkey contest

Post by hawglips »

This year with a lot of late sign-ups, it just so happened that we ended up with teams like it happened. But the way Doug does it, if everybody signs up again next year, it'll be better distributed. Just growing pains is all that is.

But we need to keep it simple, and not chase the solution for every perceived problem that pops up. Those problems will go away for the most part if we just stay the course.
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Re: 2014 Turkey contest

Post by Shooter »

Jim,...Lmao!! What are you talkin about??? I could have swore, I read your name on the CUP! :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: 2014 Turkey contest

Post by GobbleNut »

Shooter wrote:Jim,...Lmao!! What are you talkin about??? I could have swore, I read your name on the CUP! :lol: :lol: :lol:
Yeah, that's true. It's just a good thing that I got teamed up with you and the other killers on our team so that you could drag my old, dead-weight arse along to victory with you! :king: :thumbup:
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Re: 2014 Turkey contest

Post by BC »

TS wrote:Multi bearded birds I think ought to have it's longest beard count and that is it. THat puts everyone on a level playing field no matter where you hunt. Just my two cents. :salute:

But.....but.....but what are we going to do about the midwest birds that average 24 - 30 lbs as compared to Easterns in the south that average 17 - 20 lbs. It's just not fair!


:D :P :D


Putting restriction on beards and such kind of takes away from y'alls contest IMO. That's just me though.... I like to keep things simple.
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Re: 2014 Turkey contest

Post by GobbleNut »

BC wrote:
TS wrote:Multi bearded birds I think ought to have it's longest beard count and that is it. THat puts everyone on a level playing field no matter where you hunt. Just my two cents. :salute:

But.....but.....but what are we going to do about the midwest birds that average 24 - 30 lbs as compared to Easterns in the south that average 17 - 20 lbs. It's just not fair!


Okay, I don't want to belabour the point about the scoring system favouring some of us over others in the contest. There is something to be said for keeping the contest simple, and in truth there is really no reason for anybody to be too concerned about the contest anyway. It is all just for fun and grins among all of us.

We have all adopted the NWTF scoring system as the "bible" in scoring turkeys,...but it is really? The system was devised by an old turkey hunter named Dave Harbour. As far as I know there was no scientific reasoning or rationale put into the system other than Col. Dave deciding that spurs were worth "ten times as much", and beards were worth "two times as much", and the weight was worth "one time as much".

Ask yourself,...does that sound like a scientifically designed system that really indicates the true trophy characteristics of a gobbler? I could understand it if old Dave had done a bunch of scientific research across the country, looked over tons of gobblers from all parts of the U.S., and come up with a true measure of a specific subspecies merits as a trophy based on where it was harvested,...but he didn't. If he had, the system would have ended up being something like,..."well, a Merriams gobbler from southern NM is scored by using the factors of 1.38 times the weight, plus 2.21 times the beard length, plus 12.8 times the spur length. ....And by the same token, an Osceola is scored with the factors of 1.47 times the weight, plus 1.93 times the beard length, plus 8.83 times the spur length.

The fact is that Harbour's system is terribly lacking in terms of how it reflects the differences in subspecies and regional characteristics of wild turkeys in relation to their "trophy qualities". The scoring system we use to evaluate turkeys is, plainly and simply put, flawed.

Now, we can use the system for our contest all we want, and do so with a smile on our faces and with the illusion that it is fair to everybody,...but the fact is that it is not.

End of today's sermon..... :toothy7: :lol: :toothy7:
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Re: 2014 Turkey contest

Post by guesswho »

You need a winner's cup and a whiner's cup. :lol:
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Re: 2014 Turkey contest

Post by Shooter »

guesswho wrote:You need a winner's cup and a whiner's cup. :lol:
No, he just needs to take a few weeks off, and go to Iowa, TN, AL, or maybe GA. :D
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Re: 2014 Turkey contest

Post by Shooter »

GobbleNut wrote:
Shooter wrote:Jim,...Lmao!! What are you talkin about??? I could have swore, I read your name on the CUP! :lol: :lol: :lol:
Yeah, that's true. It's just a good thing that I got teamed up with you and the other killers on our team so that you could drag my old, dead-weight arse along to victory with you! :king: :thumbup:
No, No, no, you pulled your weight just fine with a couple of nice birds.
I just hope I can still go chasing turkeys like you at 80 years old. My Hat is off to you Buddy!!!
What am I saying??,.... I just hope I'm still alive and kickin at 80,...lol!!!
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