Jake or Midget Tom?

[870-Wingmaster]

Thanks Guys.  It was legal to shoot a bearded hen where i shot her, and to tell you the truth, i am quite pumped.  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.

[870-Wingmaster]

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.

[howl]

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!

[Crawl79]

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"

[surehuntsalot]

congrats on the bearded lady

[Scout24]

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!

[WV TURKEY THUG]

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.

[ncturkey]

You got your self a bearded hen.

[ccleroy]

:smh:

[steveo]

Hen.........

[Houndstooth Game Calls]

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!

[neal]

Dandy hen!