Multi-bearded Toms??

[skregear]

With Turkey Season right around the corner has anyone shot a multi-bearded tom? If not what is the most unusual Turkey you have seen or killed?
Curious to see everyone's pics.

 

[Agross]

First turkey I ever shot was a triple beard. Didn’t know shit about turkey hunting and got lucky I guess. pretty cool . Wish I woulda had it mounted. Have no idea where the pics are or I’d post one.

 

[Laramie]

Have shot 4 of them. No pics on my computer. Fairly common where we hunt. My buddy shot one with 7 different beards but none were longer then 6". It looked weird.

 

[Dos Perros]

I killed a bird a few years ago with two beards. My buddy who called him in then called in another bird with 2 beards, and then another with 5! Three dead toms, 9 beards between them. Pretty nuts.

 

[RSather528]

Barely a double beard but each beard was growing separately nonetheless.

 

[hersh2209]

North Georgia tom here with 4 beards.. measured 27inches total! Killed in spring of 2019.. nice bonus after he stopped flopping and i picked him up

 

[N2TRKYS]

I’ve never killed a Tom. However, I’ve killed several multi bearded gobblers. I killed a 5 bird limit of double beards one season.

I’ve only killed one double spurred turkey, though.

 

[hobbes]

I can't recall if I've shot a double beard or not. I want to say that I have, but I may be mixing details of other birds I've called in together. I know that I've killed multiple Merriam's gobblers with no spurs and at least one with no beard. Not just a broken off beard, but no beard whatsoever. He strutted and gobbled in behind a couple of hens.
No beard

My oldest son has killed two birds, both Easterns, with double beards that I called in when he was around 11 or 12 years old. Both were killed in the same area a year or two apart.

This was the second of those two.

I've killed a couple birds that I can recall with broken/clubbed toes, one in Nebraska and one in Montana. I've never killed a double spurred bird.

The same son killed one with solid black primaries here in Montana in 2015. Neither one of us noticed until after we picked him up. I guess we were too caught up in watching him gobble and strut.

I killed a bird two years ago that gobbled good, looked fine, but smelled terrible when I picked him up. I found out why when I processed him. He'd had a broadhead/arrow shot through his crop.

My son and I watched a hen hop all the way across a field in Colorado yelping and feeding until she finally got to our side of the field then hopped on by us. I never could tell if she was missing the leg completely or if she was just holding it up off the ground, but she definitely wasn't using it. We don't shoot bearded hens, but I'd have let my son shoot her if she'd had a beard. I can't imagine that she didn't become coyote bait soon afterwards.

 

[go_deep]

Killed a 2 beard, 3 beard, and 4 bearded birds. Killed a bird with no spurs, killed a bird with one spur and a clean leg on the other side, and killed a bird with 1 1/4" 1 3/8" spur on one leg.

 

[Anobody]

Killed two triple beards, a double and a bearded hen

 

[bbassi]

I've killed well over 100 turkeys, but only one was a double beard. I've also taken 2 bearded hens. One by mistake when I was young and didn't know better. The second was on purpose.

 

[bradb]

I have only killed one a triple beard in NE. Shot a KS bird with 2 spurs per leg

 

[Spiral Horn]

I wonder if it is more common in certain species than others. Killed Easterns, Rios and Merriams, but of the several multi-bearded birds taken (most was 4 beards) all were Merriams.

 

[Tod osier]

I've killed a couple, it seems like they are 1 in 20, or so, in my area. My son's first turkey had a double beard.

 

[deerhunt1988]

Killed a several multi-beards from a fairly large sample size. One quad, 3 triple, rest doubles.

Most recent was a 4-bearded Merriam hybrid.

Here is a triple bearded tom with beard rot. Plus his hardware.

A few other unusuals:

Tumor

Crooked breast bone

Two banded/GPS'd birds.

Another banded bird.

'White-legged' Merriam.

 

[Steelruger22]

First bird that I killed was a triple bearder when I was 15. My uncle called it in for me. Talk about setting the bar high. Main beard was 11.5" and the total beard length was 21". Got me into the Commemorative Bucks of Michigan as the #2 at the time for the youth category. Was blown away that same year by another youth that shot a 5 bearder.

 

[hobbes]

That tumor is crazy. Did you cut it open?

 

[wmd]

Triple beard shot in South Dakota.
wmd

 

[MO Shooter]

Pretty common around central missouri. We've had several doubles, a triple, and a 5 bearded. Biggest was a 28# double with 11" beards.

 

[Thess87]

I’ve been very lucky with multiple bearded birds. I’ve had them from 1 to 6 beards. Probably around 8 all together. Would absolutely love to kill a double spur!! The 6 bearded Tom was a giant. Bearded were 12 1/4” down to 6. And had 1.5 inch hooks.