Got the news today on a new pending record entry on an impressive gobbler taken yesterday morning by Dan Ladd of Fort Ann, NY. Dan is a well-known Adirondack deer hunter, book author, and current editor of New York Outdoor News. The gobbler was hunted in Warren County in the Adirondack Park and was actually one of two birds to come to Dan’s old Lynch World Champion box call. Dan often hunts mountain gobblers as his preferred hunting grounds and applies much of the same dedication to turkey hunting as he does for Adirondack whitetail deer.
photo credit- Dan Ladd
Dan’s mountain gobbler weighed in at 21lbs with 1” and 1-1/8” spurs. A double bearded gobbler with a 13.75” beard and a second beard coming in at 7-7/8” making it a non-typical record book entry. The bird scores as follows:
NWTF Non Typical 85.6250 (weight x1) + (spurs total x10) + (beards total x2)
NWTF Typical 69.750 (weight x1) + (spurs total x10) + (beard x2)
SBP Non Typical 175.750 (weight x1) + (spurs total x32) + (beards total x4)
SBP Typical 144.000 (weight x1) + (spurs total x32) + (beard total x4)
Longest beard of 13.7500″ ties at #4 in New York as published by NWTF.org and the current database maintained by Joyner Outdoor Media.
It is a current discussion as to protocol for measuring beards, what is considered an official entry. Those of you that have hunted for many years and taken plenty of birds will at some point come across a heavy bearded bird that has had some of the beard shot off or otherwise compromised from the outer pattern of the shot string. It is important to note that how something is stated or reported is how we get into some of these red-in-the-face discussions as often evident in scoring deer, and wild turkey records is never very far from that observation. As much as we here at Joyner Outdoor Media do deep dives into records, especially the book project, it’s fun stuff for us. Add $8 and our opinion and it will get you an almond milk pumpkin spice latte at your fav coffee shop. $2 for us regular folks at the local diner.
In my conversations with Dan, I got the rundown on the sequence of events, and is simple enough to not be a mutated and twisted story that sometimes attaches to record entries. In the case of this gobbler, Dan took pictures and measured the bird in keeping with NWTF guidelines and those republished and supported by turkey-talk.com, Joyner Outdoor Media, and the Empire State Limb Hangers book project.
As Dan ran his hand along the beard, the 14.5” bristle feather (yes, turkey beards are actually feathers, mesofiloplumes,) dislodged and appeared to be much shorter. With that bit of info, Dan checked the other strands of the beard with a firm grip to determine if solidly attached. This included the 13.75” length in question. What is of some controversy is that the 13.75” length bristle feather broke lose shy of an hour later. Given the handling breakage, it is not uncommon and a different and separate issue from slipped lengths within the beard itself. I have not heard any determination of the stated position on this from NWTF headquarters and surmise we will hear back if Dan sends in the entry form. In speaking with him, he wishes to convey that it is undetermined after firmly checking fully intact lengths and having it come out 45 minutes later and after all the handling off the bird. I had something similar happen in Ohio, and for several sweet minutes I had measured a beard stretching just shy of 17″. As I went to recheck the measurement in the field . The longest length came out and matched the 11.25″ beard. A prime example of a slipped bristle feather,
Without question, this is one hell of a record entry from New York, and a mountain bird to add to it. As Dan states he is fine with however it goes and is all about the experience. Although he goes on further to say that he likes the trophy aspects as many hunters do, even holding out depending on circumstance, it’s the hunt itself that matters most to him. If you follow his musings, you can keenly get a sense of that.
We do hope Dan submits his entry, and he has an open invitation to participate in the Empire State Limb Hangers book project.
Link to the New York Outdoor News Story-
-MJ
© 2023 Mike Joyner- Joyner Outdoor Media
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