Is my bird a midget??? I heard a bird gobble twice at a crow and the gobble sounded like a mature bird. I cannot say that the bird I killed was the one that gobbled due to him not ever answering my call, but he did come from exactly where i heard the gobble, and was hunting narrow woods along a field edge. Anyway, I saw the beard and shot him. When i got to him, he looked small. He had a 7 3/4" beard, full, short fan, no spurs, and weighed 11.4lbs. Jake or Midget??? Below is the only pic that i got of him, but I do have his beard and fan still.
Almost looks like a hen
Quote from: 870-Wingmaster on May 13, 2014, 11:30:34 PM
I heard a bird gobble twice at a crow and the gobble sounded like a mature bird.
I hunt Rio's out here on the west coast, but I have been unable to discern between the gobble of a mature tom verses a jake... I have certainly heard different levels of enthusiasm or nervousness in a gobble, but I had a small jake come into me this year with a roaring gobble, and I had a tom come close with a half-hearted fart of a gobble (he was a bit nervous I believe).
Quote from: 870-Wingmaster on May 13, 2014, 11:30:34 PM
He had a 7 3/4" beard, full, short fan, no spurs, and weighed 11.4lbs.
Quote from: BigHeadBoy on May 14, 2014, 12:14:33 AM
Almost looks like a hen
Jakes are still bigger than that, and most would have spurs... Size, no spurs, and appearance seems all hen to me as well.
Looks like a hen :boon:
Does the turkey have waddles at the base of the neck? If you have cleaned a gobbler before it will be pretty apparent what this one is while cleaning it. If your state regs don't allow the killing of bearded hens I'd suggest removing this thread and eating that turkey for breakfast :popcorn:
Yep. I agree with all that has been said above. Looking at the pic and from what you have said, you definitely shot a bearded lady.......
Quote from: tomstopper on May 14, 2014, 06:01:26 AM
Yep. I agree with all that has been said above. Looking at the pic and from what you have said, you definitely shot a bearded lady.......
agreed
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I beleive Henrietta as well.
The term is little turkeys,Midget turkey offends them!!HAHA
without a doubt thats a bearded hen
Hen for sure.
What part of the country? Swamp nearby? It seems a little dark. Might've been a mossy-headed gobbler.
bearded hen
Nice hen.....
You shot the Ellen of the turkey world... :z-guntootsmiley:
Quote from: 870FaceLift on May 14, 2014, 11:08:23 AM
You shot the Ellen of the turkey world... :z-guntootsmiley:
:TooFunny: :TooFunny: :TooFunny:
Quote from: 870FaceLift on May 14, 2014, 11:08:23 AM
You shot the Ellen of the turkey world... :z-guntootsmiley:
More like an the unshaven Rosie. :TooFunny: That's a helluva hen, though. I'd probably have to do a double-take if I saw that beard swingin'.
Nice hen !
Yep, Nice bearded hen
'Stud' of a bearded hen!
Call her Rosie maybe??
mudhen
I have heard hens try to gobble.
I believe what you have there is a bearded hen. Congrats!
Looks like a bearded hen.
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That's a bearded hen for sure. Since noone has mentioned it and it seems you don't already know....
A hen has breast feathers with brownish tips. Toms have black tips.
To throw a bigger kink in things...
I have video footage of a bearded hen with gobbler plummage that I saw a few years back. Lovett Williams confirmed this when I posted it here.
Yea ol buddy, it's a hen. It could have been the bird that gobbled too. I have heard a couple hens that actually gobbled pretty good.
Yep you got a bearded hen. She has a good beard for a hen but that is what it is.
It's a hen. Hen's will gobble, but usually nothing like a tom or even a jake. Plus, the body feathers are brown tipped. Gobblers are black tipped.
Nonetheless, congrats!
Quote from: howl on May 14, 2014, 10:17:32 AM
What part of the country? Swamp nearby? It seems a little dark. Might've been a mossy-headed gobbler.
Ok, I don't want to start anything, but mossy heads are about as common as Sasquatch! I know people that swear up and down they exist. Maybe they did exist . . . But really?
I think mossy heads are more likely example of what we see here. An over zealous bearded hen! Heck, some of them may even be hermaphrodites for all we know
What is a mossy head?
Quote from: Terry on May 14, 2014, 06:28:18 PM
What is a mossy head?
The legendary small sized, hairy headed turkey that may or may not exist.
Here's a description
http://oldgobbler.com/Forum/index.php?topic=8981.0
Thanks! Sounds freaky
Thanks Guys. It was legal to shoot a bearded hen where i shot her, and to tell you the truth, i am quite pumped. :happy0064: I had told the guys in my hunting party that if i saw a bearded hen that i would shoot it. I was expecting a gobbler, and like i said, i saw the beard and a blueish head and let the lead fly. When i got to the bird, i saw nubs on the legs, so i thought it was a jake. I never noticed that it didn't have waddles.
I didn't know that you could fan out a hen's tail like you can with a gobbler. her tail looks exactly the same, just much shorter.
Quote from: howl on May 14, 2014, 10:17:32 AM
What part of the country? Swamp nearby? It seems a little dark. Might've been a mossy-headed gobbler.
Shot in the midwest. No swamp nearby. Open land except for woods along ravines and steep bottoms.
The ones I have heard about were in Gulf states and those were the only kind they saw in those specific areas. Never heard of one in the Midwest. Nice trophy for you!
I was in the hunting party and also, did not notice it was a hen but knew that there was something very strange. I guess my mind saw what it wanted to see. I also, was very pumped to hear it is a hen. I would like to legally shoot a bearded hen as well.
My comment when I saw the birds mini-tail fan was, " Awe sha that's a cute one"
congrats on the bearded lady
The brown color in the photo gave it away, toms are blacker. Bearded hens are fairly common in NH, had 2 in my foodplot all last summer. A 67 year old buddy, experienced enough to know better, shot one 3 years ago thinking it was a jake, luckily it was legal. His eyesight is terrible and we razzed him all summer how we were going to take his shotgun away. This year he shot a 22 1/2 pder on opening day, sent out hero pics and an epic novel detailing his accomplishment and shut us all up!
congrats it happens they all eat about the same. i ate a few hens before and they tasted alot better than then a tom imo. i got a buddy who shot a bearded lady it had eggs in it u wanna talk about good eating them eggs were the best. once again congrats i would of let the lead fly on her to with a beard like that. its legal to shoot bearded hens in wv also.
You got your self a bearded hen.
:smh:
Hen.........
Is it a boy or a girl it's Pat! Congrats I always wanted to have a bearded hen mounted on a display with a big gobbler behind strutting!
Dandy hen!