Milan resident Terry Sheats, 62, shot a multi-bearded turkey on Friday, April 26 that was 38 and 15/16ths inches in length, a new Washtenaw County record.
Photo courtesy of Terry Sheats
Sheats said he's never shot a bird as big as the one he did last Friday. Actually, no one has. Ever.
Sheats shot a record setting turkey on Friday, April 26 at 7:52 a.m. Using a shotgun, Sheats, 62, shot a turkey that - including its six beards and two spurs - measured 38 and 15/16ths inches in length, which is a multi-beard record for Washtenaw County.
It is the 29th longest multi-beard turkey ever recorded in the state of Michigan according to Commemorative Bucks of Michigan, which is the official keeper of Michigan big game trophy records for deer, bear, elk and turkey.
Sheats - a lifelong Milan resident -- said he’s been hunting in the same area his whole life, but has never seen anything close to the record setting turkey, which weighed 21 pounds, six ounces.
The previous Washtenaw County record was 24 and 1/16 inches set in 2006 by Jeff Krull according to Bill Nash, official scoring chairman for CBM. Nash measured Sheats’ turkey on Monday. Spring turkey season runs from April 22-May 18.
Pete Cunningham covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at petercunningham@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.