Car's monster is already on there - we still got you by almost 20 points. Arrow's bird will put you up by 35 or so. Team 4 has 2 members hunting in May, the final tally is gonna be close...

I wouldn't count on anything just yet. All it will take for us to seal the deal is a big bird with 2 beards and some nice spurs! So be careful trying to brag things up to early.. I know where that big double bearded bird in my atvatar is hanging out at. I recently received permission to hunt the field.. So lets see what happens!!

Phil -

No offense, but based on the current scores you'll need a 100+ point bird to even come close - I hope you're praying for that elusive gobbler to sport 2 beards and 4 spurs!

Regardless, this year has been close! There are only a handful of us left hunting, so this is gonna come down to the wire. I'm curious to see what Team 2 posts in the next few weeks, I'm sure JW has stockpiled 5-10 birds to post by now with more to tag...

While I am not convinced team 2 will move into the lead even with JW's birds. Yes I do realize that it will be extremely hard to catch team 1 once arrowmaster posts his birds. But I am still confident that it is not complete impossible to bump team 1 down. I am thinking we still have a couple of possible upgrades. If so and a big bird gets posted by myself then it can happen . There's no need to throw that towel in yet... Besides it can happen with a bird sporting a decent weight with at least 1 1/4 inch spurs and 3 beards. Right now it would clearly be what Arrowmaster posts for birds as well as a lot of patience and luck on my part. But very clearly not at all impossible! Camokenny once proved it. So now while it is mostly up to me for our team nothing can be ruled out as of yet...

Good luck Phil! Would love to see a triple beard freak be the deciding factor! Hope you crack him!

Good luck to all the teams still chasing the title. It's been a good one for sure.
Ray

Phil - I think you're also overlooking the fact that both me and Boca are still hunting for Team 4. We're both hunting areas that routinely hold mature 3 yr old birds. WHEN I drop a typical Michigan longbeard then you'll be behind by 70-80 points, which literally means you'll need a 100 pt bird to be close. Good luck buddy!

And Phil - honestly - how many birds have you ever seen with 3 beards?

I've been turkey hunting for almost 25 years and can count on one hand the number of multiple-bearded birds that me or my friends have seen or harvested. To be honest, I've personally seen more bearded hens than multi-bearded giants in all the states I've hunted...

Honestly very few.. Last year I tried but couldn't get a shot at one that had at least 3 beards on him and I still question in my mind if he had more.. A bird discribe above if I can connect with one that is would give a score in the 100 point range.. But besides just like you we need to score.. The hunting pressure has been dropping off the birds here really rapid because of low numbers getting shot.. That by itself helps with a better chance at scoring with a big bird..

I'm not aware of any research studies that have looked at this, but the consensus seems to be that multi-bearded birds are probably not only the result of genetics but likely the rare genetic offspring result of a tom breeding a bearded hen. The places I've hunted holding multi-bearded toms have also been the places where I've seen more than one bearded hen...

Funny thing is that one year in CT I harvested a double-bearded jake that I thought was a tom. He came in on string, all by himself, and the 6" and 5.5" beards were far enough apart on his breast that when they hung together he looked like a longbeard. I still remember the ~45 yd shot that dropped him on the edge of a creek. He never went into strut on his way in, and I was damn surprised when I got on him and saw the nubs and uneven fan. He filled 1 of my 3 tags and he didn't score very high but he sure was tasty...