Bearded hen

[Waynesworld23]

If you wanna burn a shell before the end of the season let her have it. And if the hunt for a bearded hen puts a smile on your face at the end of the hunt and after the shot then do what makes you as the hunter happy.

[mudhen]

I may be way off base, but here in Arkansas we are allowed to kill bearded hens.  I seriously don't think that it is allowed because the heard 'can' or 'can not' handle it.  I think it is due to the fact that people mistake their identities.
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I'm not going to take the time to research it, but I think this is exactly the reason some states allowed the bearded hen...

The population is much easier to control with fall hunting, bag limits, season days, etc.

[ilbucksndux]

I wanted to shoot a bearded hen for years to have it mounted. 2 or 3 years ago I had a bearded hen walk right up to me and I had my finger on the trigger,but didnt shoot. I knew I didnt have the cash to take it to the taxidermy man and it would just sit in the freezer for 5 years till it got thrown out so I let her pass. The place I was hunting does have a healthy turkey population and I was gonna smoke her,but I didnt. I would not look down on any one else for doing it ,but I wont. I have killed 1 hen in the fall with a bow and will not do that again either. Just a personal opinion thats all. As far as shooting does there are places I will shoot one in a second and there are other places where I let them walk. Just because the population is better in some places than others.

[Triple B]

This is why I asked the masses.  Thanks guys.  I'm not starving, next year will be better.  Just because it is legal doesn't make it ethical. 

Now if she were albino and had a beard, I'd shoot her.

Very good choice, and I tip my hat to you. I have also seen the occasional bearded hen, and like jakes ,they always all get a free pass. I have hunted exclusively with a crossbow the last 5 years, and enjoy my hunts all the more.

[Marc]

Again if you kill hens in the fall your killing next year young. That's my opinion. Now i know we have several bow hunter that hunt turkeys with great success but these guys hunt with the right equipment to take turkeys humanly . For every hen you kill you loose at least 4 to 10 chicks in your area a year. That's not including what we loose to predators. So do the Math..

We all have to follow our personal ethics...  But killing hens in the fall probably has little to no effect on turkey populations...

There is a certain amount of competition for both prime food and nesting, and when a space opens up, another bird will take it...

In some upland populations, with limited food and nesting, it would seem that hunting can actually help the population...  If there is only enough food or cover for 100 birds, but there are 200 birds present, it is not like half of them just give up and die...  They all use the resources until the resources are gone, with major die-off.

There is a certain amount of natural die-off, and there is some degree of competition for resources...  By lowering that competition for resources, you should in theory improve nesting success of the surviving adults...

On a personal level, I would not choose to kill a hen during the spring.  During the fall, if I were inclined to hunt turkeys, I would not be too particular.  As it is, I can shoot three per year, and would rather save my bird for the spring...

I would hope that bird take is driven by science, and if so, the science says that taking some hens will not have an impact on populations...  The whole not shooting a bearded hen is far more driven by emotion and personal ethics than by science I would guess.