No beard longbeard

[half rack]

While hunting in Oklahoma my son found a Rio that he said had no beard.He said it wasn't a Jake but a nice sized full fanedtom.He didn't get close enough for a shot so I said he must just have a real short one.I think the rules out there say they must have a visable beard to be legal.The next day I told my son I was going to go back to that area and find that bird and find his beard and show it to him, up close.He told me the bird was missing 2 tail feathers from his right side of the fan,so I knew he wouldn't be hard to pick out.
About 1.5 hours into the hunt here comes "Beat Up Bob".(as we came to call him) Big bird, 15 hens all pass from behind me to my front.A few soft calls and they get 15yds in front.I see 1.25" spurs but can't find a hint of a beard.I know good and well this is a tom but just don't have any beard.I let him walk as I wasn't sure on the rules.
What would you do?

[ShallowRio]

You can not legally shoot this Gobbler, you've gotta pass. By the sound of the shape he was in, it's a fare bet that he lost his beard in a scrap. Either with another Gobbler or possibly even a coyote. You wouldn't think he'd survive a coyote attack that had gotten that developed, but givin the perfect scenario, it's possible. [/align]Some years ago, while Turkeys were still be'n relocated, I called the most beautiful bronze Gobbler in to my wife. I was allready think'n' oh my this is guna be a taxadermy bill. He had no beard and we had to pass. At that time and yet today, I believe this Gobblers beard had been plucked in an effort to allow his bronze genes into the blood pool.[/align]

[zubba]

Shallow is right, you can't legally shoot the bird. I have heard of this (more in Wisconsin), when a bird is in the roost, it gets cold enough where the beard freezes to the tree. Then when the bird moves or flies down, it rips the beard. My buddy shot a nice 24 lb Tom a couple years ago, but only had a 3" beard. The end of the beard looked real rotted, almost freezer burnt. We were wondering if this was the case with this Tom. Who know's, but you did the right thing by passing on it.

[mauser06]

my buddy rolled a bird a couple falls ago. i ran over and imediatly asked wheres the beard? definently a mature male. full fan. male colors..big body. 1+ spurs. i thought he shot it off. i helped him clean it. i heard a beard was simply a deformed feather. sure enough i found the beard. there was ONE tiny feather where the beards are normally. it looked 100% diffrent than the rest of the feathers..i plucked it and said heres your beard. i dont know what happend but that bird had no beard..that feather HAD to be it. it was the only feather that looked like that. odd to say the least.

[Adrian J Hare]

I've past on a couple Toms over the years with no beard and have heard of others that have shot them here and the regs state the same. By taking one you are taking the chance of getting tagged for a beardless bird.

This area it is common to have it happen, not all the time but also not unheard of. The birds roost in the wet snow and while on the limb they tend to step on the beard and pull it out or it freezes to the linb. If they were all smart they all would do that and gamble for a long life