I look for a fresh bagged one in the supermarket the Tuesday before, about 15-16lbs for a couple people and keep it in a cooler. Get fresh herbs before then though, they can sell out. If you want a fresh killed turkey from a local farm, you'll want to look into ordering in advance. You might want a roasting pan with a rack, but they also have disposable aluminum roasting pans. The turkeys usually have the neck and giblets (organs) in a bag in the cavity, and you want to remove those before cooking. Meat thermometer, baster, twine and aluminum foil are good to have and I like using washable silicon oven mitts for moving the bird. I used to brine in a food grade 5 gallon bucket, but recently I've been doing a rub under the skin and on top of the skin and strips of bacon/salt pork across the top, and that comes out ok.