Hen with a beard!
 

I shot a bearded hen that I thought was a tom. It was strange because there were 10 birds 9 hens with one tom. I never see a tom with hens this time of year. any way i took a 40 yd shot and scored! But when I went to get my bird I noticed no spurs and no tom tail fan. After checking closer I realized it was a hen with an 8 1/2 inch beard. I have heard about bearded hens but never seen one untill now. The beard isn't as full as a toms beard but none the less it is a long beard in my book. Never thought I would shoot a he-she:).

RE: Hen with a beard!
 

Thats awesome callemin!!Thats a good lengthy beard on that girl!!!:DAbout 10 to 20 percent of the overall hen population sport beards per NWTF!Most of em that I've seen are very thin/sparse and short!I've manage to harvest 5 or six in my home state and usually see 3 or 4 thru the course of our spring season!Never taken one with a nice beard like that though,nice job!![8D]Heres apic I took years ago of a hen in fullstrut...yes fullstrut...

RE: Hen with a beard!
 

Thanks for the info Bobgobble2. I didn't realize the percentage was that high.And thisbeard was very thin like you described. I like the great pic of the strutting hen.

RE: Hen with a beard!
 

congrats!! thats pretty awesome!.....nice pic of the strutting hen.....i seen one strutting this spring......all puffed out just like your pic...even turned its head a pinkish color....i knew something was wrong when it didnt gobble at my calls....i rounded a corner in a field and it was in a dip strutting away.....no wondered i couldnt kill a bird there this spring.....i was dealing with homosexual turkeys!!!! the gobblers wanted nothing to do with a hen......and the hens were strutting! lol

RE: Hen with a beard!
 

I'e seen a Ton of them and at one time could have taken a Grandslam of bearded hens , but oppt to pass on them at the time. We do have an Eastern hen here at the ranch with a beard that we took in a MI Fall hunt.

Sometimes you see this in the humon form aswell and thats scary :D ...BT

RE: Hen with a beard!
 

Did it look somethin like this?

RE: Hen with a beard!
 

very cool.........

RE: Hen with a beard!
 

They are actually quite common. A "bearded bird" is legal during the spring here in NY, and in the fall you can shoot 1 of either sex. Congrats on your trophy. There is a big difference between a gobbler and a hen. If indeed you thought it was a gobber, I'd highly suggest looking at some turkey pictures or video's to understand the color differences/markings between the two, for future identification purposes.:eek:

RE: Hen with a beard!
 

Maytom, It happened very fast. They all jumped over a log at 35 yds. I saw all the hens and was planning on taking one of them. But then I saw one with a beard and just assumed it was a tom because I didn't know some hens have beards. I have been deer and small game hunting for 23 years now but it is my first year turkey hunting. I took a 22 lb tom with 1 inch spurs in the spring, I worked him in with a box call and it took over an hour. I have to admit I'm hooked on turkeys for life. But yes you are right there is a big difference between toms and hens. And now I know to identify them by coloration of there heads not only by a beard. Thanks for your input. I guarantee I will know the difference next time.

RE: Hen with a beard!
 

I have heard that a hen with a beard has the genes that is responsible for producing gobblers with mutilple beards.It is nice to take such an odd bird but if it were me, I let her go and spread her genes around!