Bearded Hen?

[lafn96]

Showing some trail cam pics with a friend during the Super Bowl, he was pretty certain this was a bearded hen? I don't know anything about turkey hunting, how rare are these?

 

[deerhunter10]

It is one. Not as rare as you would think but also not something you see every day. We usually keep one or 2 around our places.

 

[megalomaniac]

First pic is a hen with a beard. Not terribly rare, prob 5-10% depending on locale
2nd pic is a gobbler.

 

[Dennis]

I think it depends on location. Bearded hens were very common on some land I used to own. Seemed like about 20% of the hens I saw there had beards. On the land I hunt now, maybe 5%.

I've seen the same thing with those Smokey grey hens. I've seen areas where they were very common, then just a few miles away much less common.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

First pic is a hen with a beard. Not terribly rare, prob 5-10% depending on locale
2nd pic is a gobbler.

I was thinking the same on hen in first pic and gobbler in second pic.

Kind of rare, but there are more than you'd imagine. Last year we had 2-3 running around our place.

 

[Gravey]

agree with mega…first is bearded hen but second is a gobbler.

 

[ROVERBOY]

Seems like l remember reading that about 1 in 200 on average will have a beard. I've seen probably 4 or 5 over the years.