Got myself a weird turkey...

[Bigeclipse]

All,
I wish I took more pictures but I only got the one. I am not the greatest at sexing a bird and was hoping you could help. Unfortunately the bird I shot (the head was hit hard so was all bloody and not much left to see) so that was out for identifying. It had a FULL gobbler type fan (not jake with the longer center feathers). It had NO spurs or even spur bumps.  It had about a 5inch, thin, beard. Here is the kicker it was a VERY small and light weight bird. Definitely hen weight.  Maybe 10-12lbs... and gobblers where I am are typically in the 20lb range. So im thinking maybe a bearded hen but the fan looks more like a male to me but I have no idea really and if a male why no spurs and so light weight? again im very new to turkey hunting. Thanks!

[eorlando]

Looks like a bearded hen to me.

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[bpsmag1026]

The brown tipped breast feathers give it away, bearded hen.

[TauntoHawk]

You mention full fan, did it strut?

Not that a hen can't strut its not common. it certainly looks like hen plumage

[Bigeclipse]

You mention full fan, did it strut?

Not that a hen can't strut its not common. it certainly looks like hen plumage

yes and no...it didn't puff up fully but it did fan it's tail...our law is simply must have a beard.  Turkey hunting is pretty hard in my area (not a lot of land to hunt) so I take what I can get. As soon as I saw beard I fired without hesitation to determine sex, size, spurs etc.  How rare are bearded hens?

[tha bugman]

bearded hen

[Gobble!]

 

bearded hen

X8

[guesswho]

The brown tipped breast feathers give it away, bearded hen.

Yep!

[idratherb]

Hen

[hobbes]

Definitely a bearded hen.  Brown feather tips give it away as stated above.  Adult hens have a "full" fan but it's quite a bit smaller than a tom.  Toms can be found with no spurs but the feather tips will be black and will be a lot more 'shiny'.   I suspect the head would be a giveaway if we could see it. The weight is also a giveaway. 

As far as strutting....I had a Merriam's hen strutting at 20 yards last season that was frustrated she couldn't find the hen yelping at her. 

[TauntoHawk]

You mention full fan, did it strut?

Not that a hen can't strut its not common. it certainly looks like hen plumage

yes and no...it didn't puff up fully but it did fan it's tail...our law is simply must have a beard.  Turkey hunting is pretty hard in my area (not a lot of land to hunt) so I take what I can get. As soon as I saw beard I fired without hesitation to determine sex, size, spurs etc.  How rare are bearded hens?

bearded hens are a genetic trait so some area with the gene it will be much more prominent than other areas that might have very few. I've seen figures range from 1 in 5 to 1 in 20 but not sure if I've ever seen concrete scientific number and that would still very from where the study was done. I would say its uncommon but not rare the same way I would term a gobbler with more than one beard. 

[appalachianassassin]

bearded hen

[Bigeclipse]

You mention full fan, did it strut?

Not that a hen can't strut its not common. it certainly looks like hen plumage

yes and no...it didn't puff up fully but it did fan it's tail...our law is simply must have a beard.  Turkey hunting is pretty hard in my area (not a lot of land to hunt) so I take what I can get. As soon as I saw beard I fired without hesitation to determine sex, size, spurs etc.  How rare are bearded hens?

bearded hens are a genetic trait so some area with the gene it will be much more prominent than other areas that might have very few. I've seen figures range from 1 in 5 to 1 in 20 but not sure if I've ever seen concrete scientific number and that would still very from where the study was done. I would say its uncommon but not rare the same way I would term a gobbler with more than one beard.

thanks! I have been hunting turkeys for 3 years now.  Have got 2 toms in the springs, 2 hens in the falls, and now this bearded hen (kind of cool)

[Forked lighting]

 I,ve seen hens stutt only bearded hen i ever killed stutted when she came in last day of season an vegetation was thick wouldnt have killed her if I had seen her better but wasnt a problem our law states bearded bird so she was legal

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[fallhnt]

Approx 10% of hens have a beard. You can id your Fall birds the same way. Look at the breast feathers to determine sex because young jakes will be in Fall flocks. Congrats on a good trophy.


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