struttin hen

bennie · 02-28-2003, 10:20 AM

has any one out there ever seen a hen strut. i saw one in s. arkansas last year do the whole nine yards, except fan her tail. she cupped her wings, fluffed her feathers,walked sideways and turned in circle. she also had a 8" beard. is this unusual r have others seen this. been hunting fo 11 years and this my first to see.

Tarheel Gobbler · 02-28-2003, 10:24 AM

Yea I' ve seen it a couple of times. Saw one in the median strip of a road close to home with tail fanned out and everything. Don' t know if any of them had beards but it was weird watching them and not being able to shoot.

ohiostrutter · 02-28-2003, 11:08 AM

saw it last year...single hen came in to my jake and hen decoy she strutted fully fanned tail and even made a fighting rattle for a couple secs. she then moved on feedingaway like nothing happened!!!

benhuntin · 02-28-2003, 11:13 AM

I guess some of dem lesbian birds do come out of the closet once in a while.[&:]
I have seen a hen with a beard but never saw one strut.

MKMGOBL · 02-28-2003, 03:41 PM

I' ve seen it once right after a Spring time thumder storm. I guess she was drying out her feathers, at least that' s what I was told when asked someone about it

Wickman (Buckmaster) · 02-28-2003, 04:18 PM

Ive seen it a few times after the rain, i think they were just drying them selves off after the rain.

Bobgobble2 · 02-28-2003, 07:53 PM

Took this pic about 10 years ago as this little lady came into my calls!She yelped almost all the way in as she came in directly behind my set-up!As i sat there I began to hear a bird spitting but could never here the drum!I thought maybe she had a pulled a gobbler in with her,and as she finally made her way out in front of me I realized it wasn' t a gobbler but her!!Have no idea why she was doing this except possibly she was showing her dominance as the bosshen!!Pretty cool though!!

halcon · 02-28-2003, 08:14 PM

I have a hen that I see all the time ,that has about a six inch beard . I have never seen her when I could get a picture but I keep trying .

bowhuntin1 · 02-28-2003, 08:22 PM

I used to raise wild and bronze turkeys and I have seen the hens strut, fan,drum and even attempt to gobble giving a fair imitation of a young jake. It always happened in the spring right when they started breeding and right before they started nesting.

old gobbler · 03-01-2003, 02:10 PM

I have had been very fortunate over the years to witness and record a number of hens " strutting." During a couple of those rare incidents, the hens not only displayed but also would " drag" their wings and even produce the " Pulmonic Huff" very similar to a gobbler...

Many times a " strutting" hen seems to be trying to display a bit of dominance over another strange hen within her area....

The unusual " sounds" associated with each experience certainly adds to every unforgettable encounter....