The night before my first hunt of the season, I laid eyes on this bird and I knew right away that I wouldn’t be satisfied with any other turkey this year. During my hunt the next morning I saw him but he was just out of range with a large group of hens. He didn’t even care about the decoys or the calls. To say I was heartbroken when he went past me that morning would be an understatement. That evening we set up on him again only to have him show up from the opposite direction we were expecting which created an additional challenge. Before long, I was completely surrounded by hens. I began to really worry my hunt was going to be ruined with so many eyes on my every move but thankfully I was able to take this beautiful Tom right before the group got out of range. With a beard length just shy of 11 inches and inch long spurs he made the Michigan record books with a total score of 12 14/16”!