Multi-Beards?

[Dr.Love]

Thanks everyone. This is truly a bird of a life time. However I am not able to get a full body mount at this time. Thinking about doing some kind of beard board. Anyone have a suggestion of one that will look good with this set of beards?

[NECKRINGER]

So glad u answered guess.
Cause I was gunna tell him rare for everyone but you.

My mc squared brain
Has put together and average for most people and places
1 out of 25 birds may be multi bearded

Unless u hunt nuclear waste sites like guesswho
Then they have rotten legs and beards everywhere

[GobbleNut]

"Multi-beard-ism", if you will, is totally a function of genetics.  Certain places, with the right genetics, have the likelihood of producing multiple-bearded gobblers to a much greater degree than other places. 

For example, for those of you that might want to kill a Merriams turkey with a multiple beard, you should avoid hunting the Lincoln National Forest in southern New Mexico.  I can absolutely assure you that your chances of killing one here are nearly zero.  I have hunted this area for nearly fifty years and have seen probably a thousand dead Merriams gobblers in that time, and have looked over ten times that many live ones.  Out of all those turkeys, I have seen exactly ONE multiple-bearded Merriams gobbler, and he had two,...of which the secondary beard was maybe three inches long.  The odds of a gobbler have multiple-beards here is, without a doubt, less than one in a thousand,...and probably significantly less than that.

As they say in the real estate business,....it's all a matter of location, location, location!

[Dr.Love]

Any chance the number and size of the extra beards has anything to do with old age?
Been hunting a bird in the area for a number of years now. Its been so long I figured he has died of old age by now. No way to tell if this him or not but if this could be an older bird that would make the hunt even better.

[GobbleNut]

Any chance the number and size of the extra beards has anything to do with old age?
Been hunting a bird in the area for a number of years now. Its been so long I figured he has died of old age by now. No way to tell if this him or not but if this could be an older bird that would make the hunt even better.

I believe there is a high degree of certainty that the age of a gobbler has nothing to do with whether he has extra beards or not.  Once again, that is a genetic trait that is predetermined by the combination of chromosomes and dna of the parents. 

However, since beards are constantly growing, the likelihood that an older gobbler will have a longer beard, or beards if he is a multi-beard, is quite good.  However, there are "environmental influences", such as harsh winters or poor habitat conditions produced by drought, that could cause a gobblers beard to actually decrease in length with age due to breakage of the beard strands.

The ability of a gobblers beard to withstand breakage is related to the melanin content of the strands.  Poor habitat conditions, or possibly an illness or disease the bird might experience, can cause a melanin deficiency in the beard.  That deficiency will generally be consistent with the growth of each strand of the beard, thus, when you see a mature gobbler with his beard looking like it was cut off at a certain point, that is most likely due to the strands of beard at the break point having weakened due to the gobbler, at some point in the past, not being able to assimilate enough nutrients in its diet to maintain the melanin level in its beard as it grew.

That is typically referred to as "beard rot" by us turkey hunters, although that is really a catch-all term for the conditions which might cause the melanin deficiency and corresponding potential breakage of the beard strands.

[Wrangler95]

 :happy0064:congrats

[Snoodsniper]

Double beards are getting more common around here. I know of at least six that were killed within a 30 mile radius including one I shot.

[Snoodsniper]

Last year that is.....

[appalachianstruttstopper]

Any chance the number and size of the extra beards has anything to do with old age?
Been hunting a bird in the area for a number of years now. Its been so long I figured he has died of old age by now. No way to tell if this him or not but if this could be an older bird that would make the hunt even better.

My second turkey when I was a kid was a double bearded jake, so, I wouldn't think age has anything to do with it.

[CT Spur Collector]

Nice Tom!!  You score it and list that on the NWTF records web site.

[Dr.Love]

Havent sent it in to have it listed yet but it scored 104.75!
Thanks for all the info GobbleNut.

[dfresh55]

thats awsome good kill... yeah i was visiting the turkey roost taxidermy to get mine mounted and there was a 7 bearded monster ronnie smith shot that they were doing wish i would have taken a pick...

[RutnNStrutn]

I agree that it is genetics. Some people hunt in areas that produce higher than average numbers of multi-beards. Congrats on a fine bird, I hope you are getting him mounted!