Back to that hunt Saturday morning... remember that statement I made about going back to Bird Dog from time to time in situations for advice on turkey. Well, I had one of those little discussions with the professor this afternoon about the jake Wyatt got on youthday. I told him that we found it odd that the bird didn't have a jake tail and how we had researched a bit about bearded hens. After our conversation I was able to look over the feathers again and confirm that it was not a jake, instead a classic buff tipped feathered " bearded hen!!! While I don't know the whole hunt story I do know that Wyatt and my brother said they had never seen a tom behave the way this bird did. I'll try to get more pics up later.

Oh... Bird Dog knows how I play around with my pictures and could tell the photo in my report was lightened... I did enhance the color and touched up the exposure before posting.

Many many years ago i shot a bearded hen that l mistook for a gobbler--she was actually in a half strut in some thick stuff,and l saw beard, and l saw full fan and knew a tight shot through a jungle was all i was going to get in the thicket l was in. Head popped up and l shot. After I shot, l picked up a legal bearded hen, to my surprise. Some consider them more of a trophy than a regular Longbeard.

When I saw the picture, I kept saying to myself, where's the jake?? But to me... I'm with GN, I think that is still a true trophy, especially for a youngster!! And if I'm not mistaken, didn't Miss Abby gun down a bearded hen this past fall that was on the hit list? I have never seen one, while hunting , but got one on video shortly after spring season a few years ago!! I haven't seen her since! Anyways... congrats on both awesome birds!!

For a lot of folks it is a trophy and some get them mounted. I think it must be area genetics related but don't know that for sure.

Studies show about 10% of the population are bearded hens. In NY there they say about up to maybe 20% have beards. The rare one is a doubled bearded hen. I know of only 2 double bearded ones myself that have ever been taken.

Now those seem like high percentage but a lot of the beards on the hens may not be the noticable 4-7" thin few strands of feathers that folks see. Research shows most are 1/4 - maybe an inch not prodruding the breast feathers. Most fall hunters notice that on hens they shot. Also some hens have nubs on their legs like a young Jake.

Here on the Q I may see 3-4 a year.


Earl

Earl, l forgot mention the nubs on the one l shot. Just bumps where spurs would have protruded on male. lWe see a few bearded hens every year , all over the country.

I actually seen one 2 weeks ago while sitting and field scouting 2 hens flew down in front of where I was seated 1 had about 6-8in few little spriggs hanging out. I also walked up on one like 5 years ago sitting on nest. Definitely pretty cool looking bird.

Glad you brought that up about seeing one on nest. Years ago and even a little today some persieve bearded hens as non-productive and should be shot. But they can and do lay and hatch eggs.


Earl

That was actually the first time i'd ever seen a turkey nest it was in a grown up hedge row behind a old fallen down barn, and when it first crossed my mind i thought it was a jake but then i walked even further and got a better look it was a bearded hen and she was acting as if she had a broke wing.

Thx for the interesting comments. About the short beards... somewhere I have a video clip of a hen we got on camera at 7 feet while on my oldest son's first youth hunt with Bird Dog. Nolan passed on the hen as we knew exactly that she was a hen. My brother who was hunting with Wyatt this past Saturday was in the blind that day running the camera. He was able to zoom in on the breast showing the beard protruding about an 1 1/2". As far as a bearded hen being a trophy? Wyatt had a smerk on his face Saturday about the legs of his jake without the jake tail and the smerk returned when we confirmed it being a hen while he was saying, "it was a good day".

I had one on my property a few years ago that raised broods two years in a row. Never saw her again after the second year.