was wondering if anybody ever seen a mature tom with no signs of a beard every morning we have this full fanned gobbler come into our back yard through the binos i can see some nice spurs full fan big bird looks like he should have a 10" beard i know hes not legal but wonder why he doesnt have a beard i mean no signs of one at all which stinks but still fun to watch
I did see one on my property couple years ago. I did not shoot him, so no close look. Mine also had a big bare spot on his chest. Maybe a predator caught him there?
Beard rot
Feed him some Rogaine . ;D I reckon it could be beard rot.tore off in a fight or whatever. Hope it it aint genetic. I have shot full fans with 2 or 3 in beards. Iv'e also shot a full fan with 10 in bead and no spurs. Sometimes they are just oddballs .
Yes I have. And my dad bagged him when examined close he had a 1/4" beard. It was a funny story actually I told it in funny hunting stories from past hunts. I still laugh about it. had to be there. This was also a 3 year old bird with nice hooks just no beard. I will bump up the page.
Likely beard rot, froze and broke off or got it torn up in a scuffle with another bird. I have shot birds that were strutting around an had spurs you though were gonna bite you from 30 yards out but only had a 3" nubbin poking out of his chest. In PA, we have to positively identify the beard so even though they didn't have a ground dragger, they still took one in the face.
He is one of the smart ones and shave before the season.
Quote from: afoshie on April 14, 2012, 09:14:14 PM
He is one of the smart ones and shave before the season.
lol
I have killed mature 3+ years old gobblers with less than a 1 1/2" beard and one big gobbler that didn't have any sign of anything. It happens ..... :funnyturkey: T.
Quote from: Trevor2 on April 14, 2012, 08:33:59 AM
Beard rot
This would be my guess as well. My daughter killed one last year that was at least a 3-4 yr old bird with only a 4 inch beard that was orange tipped. The classic beard rot sign. From the video you could hardly see a beard at all and he was 25 yards away. See if this looks familiar.
http://youtu.be/PN8lPFbm-Pk
We had one on our ranch for 4-5 years. He had no sign of a beard. We called him no beard. He had been shot at by me and by my BIL with a bow. We should have called him lucky.
TRKYHTR
Quote from: afoshie on April 14, 2012, 09:14:14 PM
He is one of the smart ones and shave before the season.
:z-winnersmiley: :z-guntootsmiley: :happy0064:
+1 on the beard rot
This one got by me three times before I realized he was a mature bird. I gave my Mom a heads up and told her if she saw three Jake's running together to shoot the big one.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/olesixbeards/Beardrot.jpg)
Had one come in one day and thought he was a jake until he got right on top of me and I saw his hooks. Turned out to be the heaviest Eastern I've killed in that area.
Quote from: afoshie on April 14, 2012, 09:14:14 PM
He is one of the smart ones and shave before the season.
:happy0064: :happy0064:
(http://img.tapatalk.com/a6934892-b8fc-a207.jpg)Killed this big boy. Like Reloader's he is my heaviest La bird to date. 21.5 lbs, spurs over an inch. Watched him strut for 20 mins with binos. Saw he had a full fan and full gobble. Finally when he committed to me, the sun hit his beard just right and I saw a few long strands and I slowly put the binos down and got my gun ready. He had 5 strands that measured 8".
The biggest bodied turkey I've ever seen didn't have a beard. He was with two longbeards and he was noticeably much larger than they were.
Nope, never seen a tom with no beard at all.
If I did here in Cali, I'd be looking around for Mr. Greenjeans....
mudhen
I killed one a few years back with 7/8 spurs around 19-20 lbs that didn't have any beard at all. He came strutting in and I shot him around 20 yards. I never even looked for a beard since I knew he had a full fan and good gobble. There was no sign of a beard. I have killed a couple with beard rot that looked just like the ones above. I just hope it wasn't genetic
Quote from: redarrow on April 14, 2012, 08:40:15 AMI have shot full fans with 2 or 3 in beards. Iv'e also shot a full fan with 10 in bead and no spurs.
A couple of seasons ago I shot a limbhanger Osceola that only had a thick 5" beard that had rot. He came in thru chest high grass, so I saw a nice beard. Just didn't know it had rotted off just below the level of the grass. ;D I'm still glad I shot him. :icon_thumright: