gobbler with no beard

[DirtNap647]

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

[HunterMan]

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?

[Trevor2]

Beard rot

[redarrow]

Feed him some Rogaine . 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 .

[mikejd]

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.

[mightyjoeyoung]

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.

[afoshie]

He is one of the smart ones and shave before the season.

[ceejay]

He is one of the smart ones and shave before the season.

lol

[Turkasaurus]

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 .....       T.

[gophert]

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

[TRKYHTR]

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

[Dan Mallia]

He is one of the smart ones and shave before the season.

     

[surehuntsalot]

+1  on the beard rot

[guesswho]

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.

[Reloader]

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.