I killed a weirdo hen...


western NY bowhunter

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Re: I killed a weirdo hen...

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I think you got yourself a Tom there.........notice the Snood? As far as I know hens don't have snoods.

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Hens do have snoods...they're just not as pronounced as on a gobbler. I've grown up around turkey hunting my whole life and have handled many dozens of dead birds (longbeards, jakes, hens) and I'm 100% positive that this turkey is a hen. It was an adult bird with a full fan, weighed about 8 lbs., had the buff colored breast feathers indicative of hens (as opposed to black bars on gobblers) and had the scale-like "hen spurs" on her legs. Also, the skinny little beard had the distinctive "crimp" in it that hen beards have. Like I said...she sure was a pretty strange lookin' gal tongue.gif.

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Re: I killed a weirdo hen...

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I shot a hen that looked just like that last spring. she was gobbling and strutting like she was off her head. In fact, I've shot alot of hens like that. LOL

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Now that you mention the hen gobblin' and struttin, I wonder if the jake I thought I was shooting at and the hen I ended up retrieving in NY was one bird. I've heard of such..........guess it'll always be a mystery.

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Re: I killed a weirdo hen...

I shot an Osceolla bearded hen two years ago that had such a red hed, we all argued whether it was a tom or a hen. I answered the question when I cut her open and there were eggs. Not just some weird eggs that have been reported in a tom, but actual eggs in progressive stages of development, just like you'd find in a hen.

Congrats on the bird. Bearded hens always make unique trophies.

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