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Illinois gobbler ranked 7th heaviest in state history, top tom taken by female hunter

Jennifer Cheely with the 28-pound, 14-ounce turkey she harvested in Edgar County this spring. According to NWTF, it is the largest turkey ever taken by a female hunter in Illinois. (Photo provided)

As she did with the first five turkeys she shot in her hunting career, Jennifer Cheely grabbed the freshly-harvested Edgar County tom and threw it over her shoulder.
That’s what first made her go “hmmm” on that otherwise typical Illinois April morning.
Following up on that feeling – and on advice from a taxidermist – Cheely soon went hunting through National Wild Turkey Federation records and learned the 28.88-pound bird was the heaviest turkey ever taken by a female hunter in Illinois. That weight also ranks her turkey No. 7 overall in Illinois and 66th in the entire U.S.

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