Bearded Hen
04-23-2005, 04:56 PM
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Coosa County Alabama
Posts: 270
Bearded Hen
You guys I done went and did something illegal & it was an accident. You see I went turkey hunting the other day and was tryin to stalk this little flock of turkeys when they stopped to feed in a feild. I got closer to them and saw one with a beard and shot it.( im a new turkey hunter so I thoght for sure it was a gobbler) When i got it home i measured its beard and it had a 7 incher
! then my uncle came & looked at it he told me it was a hen[:@]. so im very disapointed. we still ate it though. Well thats my story.
! then my uncle came & looked at it he told me it was a hen[:@]. so im very disapointed. we still ate it though. Well thats my story.
04-24-2005, 10:54 AM
#6
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Baumholder, DEU/By Way of Arkansas
Posts: 2,849
RE: Bearded Hen
If I was you I wouldn't worry about it, because I bet you did nothing illegal. One of the main ways hunters identify male and female turkeys is by finding a beard on the bird.
In Arkansas it is not illegal to shoot a hen....that is, if it is a bearded hen. We can take two "bearded turkeys." They made it that in the regs, instead of gobbler and jake, because of occurences of people mistaking a bearded hen, as a gobbler or jake.
A 7 in bearded hen at that. That was a good sized bearded hen. Congrats on the bird.
And as for all hens having beards...I think not. Some hens just have weird genes or abnormalities that cause them to grow the mostly, male feature, of beards.
In Arkansas it is not illegal to shoot a hen....that is, if it is a bearded hen. We can take two "bearded turkeys." They made it that in the regs, instead of gobbler and jake, because of occurences of people mistaking a bearded hen, as a gobbler or jake.
A 7 in bearded hen at that. That was a good sized bearded hen. Congrats on the bird.
And as for all hens having beards...I think not. Some hens just have weird genes or abnormalities that cause them to grow the mostly, male feature, of beards.
