Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting Hen turkey with a beard?

I feed five Eastern Turkey's in my driveway most every day. Three have beards and two don't. One of the three appears to be a hen. Is it possible that some hen's grow beards?

Yes, and it's a fairly common occurence.

They won't be as large, thick or pronounced as a Gobbler's beard but they usually will be about as big around as a standard pencil and can be 6 to 7 inches in length.

We see that in MI on a regular basis.

in the "turkey pic." thread, I posted a pic. of bearded hen that I arrowed a few years ago. She had a beard just over 7" long. Not real common in our area in KS., but ya do see them from time to time.

They're around here once in a while. Seen one with a double beard once.

Here is one, (third from the right):

I shot one here in eastern NC two years ago, I'd heard of them but had never seen one. I've seen one more since then.

The farm I hunt on has a few of them. I have thought about taking one just for the odd factor, but have not done it.

have seen throut the years
friggin thing wouldnt go away from me
it was like 10-15ft away from me at time on my hard right
putting the whole time
trying to find the other hen(me)
she had about a 7 inch beard
i couldnt get a shot on her
she just went away after about 10 minutes

Yes they do. My father in law shot one in his yard a few years back. I've seen one at his place every years since, too.

Yup. More common than one would think. I had one hanging around my bird feeder for several years.

WN

That's why Virginia's law reads bearded turkey and not gobbler when it refers to legal Spring turkey's..........Hb

Where I work at, there is a bearded hen walking around. The beard looks to be a good five inches long.

Fairly common here in tn also

not only beards, but a three legged one once ! (domestic white)

Same here in Michigan. I've seen a couple over the years while spring gobbler hunting. We'll shoot hens in the fall, but not in the spring.

NB

Here's one that wouldn't leave me alone...

Seen quite a few in the area we now hunt in Goliad Co., TX.
Never considered shooting one.

jcc