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Post by Noblebowhunter on Mar 22, 2008 21:12:58 GMT -5
AT one of the farms i hunt there is a flock of hens runnin around generally between 20-30 all the time together.. and atleast 5 of them are bearded.... 3 of them are your normal 4-5 inch beards but two of them would make some gobblers look small. Im talkin 9-10" beards. My questions are .... how does this happen... and y are there so many in this area/flock? Last year i could only find 3.... now theres 5.. maybe more.
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Post by Woody Williams on Mar 23, 2008 6:55:50 GMT -5
We've got a couple on our little place. We've passed them up in the nesting time even though they are legal. Now, we would take one in the fall, but they seem to know that and avoid us then.
BTW - They seem to be the boss hen in every group. Excessive testosterone?
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Post by mullis56 on Mar 23, 2008 8:38:50 GMT -5
I have seen a few from time to time....saw a few last year. Nothing big like your refering to Noble!
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Post by Noblebowhunter on Mar 23, 2008 9:58:11 GMT -5
ya i dont even really know of guys shootin hens with a beard like these gals.... im sure they do .... but most of the ones i hear about are 4-5" and pencil thin.... the biggest of these 2 is about 1 1/2" in diameter to look at... Its weird... ill do my best to get a pic of her this week.. BTW.... northern birds were hammerin this mornin again even with the snow/cold temps.
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Post by woodmaster on Mar 23, 2008 10:09:36 GMT -5
I've heard a few stories on bearded hens......
Supposely some of their offspring will be gobblers with multiple beards.
Bearded hens are usually the dominate hens.....
About 1 out of 20 hens have beards......
A beard is a type of feather so it isn't like a doe with antlers.
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Post by Noblebowhunter on Mar 23, 2008 16:26:52 GMT -5
I also heard the multiple bearded gobbler comment from others and belive on a video of some sort as well.... boy i hope!!!!!!!  |
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Post by seindhunter on Mar 23, 2008 18:26:47 GMT -5
I took a picture of one in the backyard last week. here's the picture.  |
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Post by kyle on Mar 24, 2008 8:35:32 GMT -5
I shot one last year that had a 9.5 in beard on her. My brother and I doubled he shot the tom and I shot the hen. His tom was doubled bearded
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Post by hornharvester on Mar 24, 2008 10:48:30 GMT -5
Last year I shot a hen on public land the last day of my draw hunt and she had a 8 1/2" full beard. h.h.
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Post by Noblebowhunter on Mar 24, 2008 16:38:51 GMT -5
wow... see told you i knew there had to be some out there |
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Post by hornharvester on Mar 25, 2008 3:19:23 GMT -5
Heres the one I shot last year..h.h.  |
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Post by Noblebowhunter on Mar 25, 2008 16:55:25 GMT -5
nice one
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timdog
Junior Member
Posts: 42
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Post by timdog on Mar 26, 2008 14:54:59 GMT -5
It's hereditary. Don't waste your time on shooting a bearded hen unless a) you've never shot a turkey before or b) you're a kid.
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Post by Noblebowhunter on Mar 26, 2008 18:37:59 GMT -5
It's hereditary. Don't waste your time on shooting a bearded hen unless a) you've never shot a turkey before or b) you're a kid. explain please.... cant wait to hear this one |
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Post by hornharvester on Mar 26, 2008 21:20:09 GMT -5
It's hereditary. Don't waste your time on shooting a bearded hen unless a) you've never shot a turkey before or b) you're a kid. timdog, 1. ive shot turkey before and Im in Florida right now turkey hunting. 2. I'm not a kid. 3. its legal to shoot a bearded hen....  h.h. |
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Post by dbd870 on Mar 27, 2008 6:38:17 GMT -5
Bearded hen = dead bird.
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Post by huxbux on Mar 27, 2008 18:28:41 GMT -5
It's hereditary. Don't waste your time on shooting a bearded hen unless a) you've never shot a turkey before or b) you're a kid. Since it only takes a split second to pull a trigger, I doubt h.h. "wasted" much time on it either. |
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Post by woodmaster on Mar 28, 2008 16:41:29 GMT -5
Shooting bearded hens is like shooting button bucks......
if it's legal and YOU want to....do it!
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Post by songdog on Apr 1, 2008 19:26:55 GMT -5
Bearded hens are believed to be rare but actually they comprise about 14% of the hen population.
They are legal to shoot but I think they are legal by default as it would be highly possible to harvest one accidentally. I do not think the DNR's intention was to have people hunting hens as a standard practice. Use your own discretion but for me I would rather have the 2 or 3 surviving poults that she may hatch for next year. I do not need to kill a bird that badly . I would rather walk out with nothing for the season than shoot a hen.
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Post by dogkiller on Apr 12, 2008 9:55:30 GMT -5
i see a couple bearded hens every year.i personally won't shoot one .well,maybe lol ! got this pic last week. if i can find it,i have video of one in my yard last year.  |
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h.h.
