Bearded Hen
 

You guys I done went and did something illegal & it was an accident. You see I went turkey hunting the other day and was tryin to stalk this little flock of turkeys when they stopped to feed in a feild. I got closer to them and saw one with a beard and shot it.( im a new turkey hunter so I thoght for sure it was a gobbler) When i got it home i measured its beard and it had a 7 incher:D! then my uncle came & looked at it he told me it was a hen[:@]. so im very disapointed. we still ate it though. Well thats my story.

RE: Bearded Hen
 

im new to turkey hunting too, this probably makes me sound retarded but do u or anyone know if all hens have beards?

RE: Bearded Hen
 

almost all hens don't but a small few do. check your regs. again, i am pretty sure in every state you can shoot a bearded hen, but i am not 100% sure so look it up. i know here in PA you can.

RE: Bearded Hen
 

will u get in trouble 4 that im not sure?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?

RE: Bearded Hen
 

im in iowa and you can shoot bearded hens

RE: Bearded Hen
 

If I was you I wouldn't worry about it, because I bet you did nothing illegal. One of the main ways hunters identify male and female turkeys is by finding a beard on the bird.

In Arkansas it is not illegal to shoot a hen....that is, if it is a bearded hen. We can take two "bearded turkeys." They made it that in the regs, instead of gobbler and jake, because of occurences of people mistaking a bearded hen, as a gobbler or jake.

A 7 in bearded hen at that. That was a good sized bearded hen. Congrats on the bird.

And as for all hens having beards...I think not. Some hens just have weird genes or abnormalities that cause them to grow the mostly, male feature, of beards.

RE: Bearded Hen
 

im pretty sure in ny its any bearded turkey

RE: Bearded Hen
 

i am pritty sure anything with a beard is fair game

RE: Bearded Hen
 

Yep Alabama's regs state Gobblers ONLY. Sure hope you reported the accidental shooting to your DNR.

RE: Bearded Hen
 

Thats wierd..Here in Iowa we can shoot bearded hens. I saw two of them last weekend actually. Had never seen any before then, it was pretty cool.