Things is, if you cook that bird and it comes out amazing, your guests will know it's the best bird they've had in years and they will pack it away. Last year, I brined the bird 24 hrs, cooked it in a water bath for 8 hours at 180* and then packed the cavity with aromatics (apple/onion/rosemary/thyme/cinnamon) and smoked it (apple) for 4 hours for color/aroma. My focus/goal was to have a bird that was beautiful and which had a flavorful, moist breast. That 25lb bird (precook weight) got eaten by less than 25 people real fast! There were only scraps for my sammie next day. delicious scraps.
Since my family has shown me what they can do, this year I'm going with two 15-17lbs birds. One will be a repeat of last year's three step labor of love, and the other one will be brined 24hrs and smoked till done. Man I love thanksgiving!