After 6 years of putting in lots of hours...EARLY hours, Steph connected with her first kill today at 7am. We had birds gobbling on the roost, hens around us, and saw a total of 12 hens and 5 gobblers all morning. The 4 closest were hens at 20yds. They fed off out at a distance and I saw one was a Bearded Hen. Totally legal to take and Steph was unsure if that is what she wanted to do. After I told her that they are legal and fairly rare, especially one that turned out to have a 6-1/4" beard ( i thought it to be about 5" at the time), she decided that she wanted to shoot that one. At 35yds out, it was too close to the other hens and she waited until they separated. I said wait until I get it to stick it's head and neck up fully then take the shot. I made a couple of putts and it stood straight up. At the shot it folded like a dish towel and I could barely get my gear together because I was so excited. My Son Zach was sitting about 150yds from us and he immediately sent us a text asking if she shot. We said heck yeah, come on up.
We had patterned the gun out to 40yds and it did well as most of you know. I thought the shot to be @40-42 yds, I took 52 steps(4times!..lol) from the blind window to the bird. I was looking at her through the Binoculars and it sure didn't look like 50yds!!
Anyway we all were beyond thrilled and a bearded hen for her first bird ever was icing on the cake.
I understand some of you guys(myself included) would not shoot a bearded hen due to whatever reason you have but I could not be happier for my wife. The farm/valley I hunt had 2 flocks of birds all winter with over 80 in one flock and over 100 in another. There is no shortage of hens and in two weeks of scouting I did not see this one on a nest. This one while alive was a little bigger than the hens it hung around with and it's head had more blue and red than other hens I've ever seen. We knew it was legal from the start either way, but it wasn't until we were able to really check it out close and determine for sure that we were positive it actually was a hen. I'm not too into turkey biology but if there is a he/she..this one would be close. It's wing tips were worn down like it was strutting...weird.
For the guys that just have to know...
Mossberg Bantam Youth 20ga
Bushnell Holo-Sight
Indian Creek .570 choke
1-7/16oz Tungsten #9 Hand loads. @ 1150fps
It was a poke from the blind!
Wife & Son
Wife & Me
Just a cool pic!
