Gobbling Hen... The weirdest turkey in Spokane County

[Jonathan_S]

So this girl has been coming around for a while... Now she is starting to act like a male and this morning she was gobbling like crazy. In the link are some recent pictures of her non-strut.

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,191989.msg2540520.html#msg2540520

You turkey experts ever seen this before? I have seen my domestic hens go half strut sometimes when no male is present but in this photo, my tom was about 25' away.

Anyway, just thought it was interesting.

[Miles]

Call her Bruce.

[Jonathan_S]

Call her Bruce.

Haha!

[buckcanyonlodge]

It's a sign of dominance among the hens in the flock. The hen in this picture was strutting and gobbling along with the toms. She would gobble , fan , and then chase the other hens.

[Jonathan_S]

It's a sign of dominance among the hens in the flock. The hen in this picture was strutting and gobbling along with the toms. She would gobble , fan , and then chase the other hens.

Cool picture! Yeah I always see it in my domestic turkeys but not when there is a 25# mean tom around 

[carpsniperg2]

I cracked a big bearded hen last year that was a strutting. She even tried to breed another hen in front of me. Crazy stuff!

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,173496.msg2293182.html#msg2293182

[lokidog]

I've seen hens strutting and fanning at my decoy.  But, I have to say, the strutter in that first pic sure looks like a beardless tom to me.  The wattles seem way too big to be a hen, compare to later photo of strutting hen.   

[Mark251]

I've never seen that before...funny 

[carpsniperg2]

That is kinda what I was thinking as well ed. Some birds get beard rot and loose there beards. The head on that bird look more tom-ish to me.

[buckcanyonlodge]

The turkey in the first pic is a tom. Hens do not get the blue head and the drooping snoze

[Jonathan_S]

I've seen hens strutting and fanning at my decoy.  But, I have to say, the strutter in that first pic sure looks like a beardless tom to me.  The wattles seem way too big to be a hen, compare to later photo of strutting hen.   

Same bird. I am 100% positive. It is a tiny paintbrush sized beard

[The Gobble-stopper]

I've seen hens strutting and fanning at my decoy.  But, I have to say, the strutter in that first pic sure looks like a beardless tom to me.  The wattles seem way too big to be a hen, compare to later photo of strutting hen.   

I have to agree, a lot of young toms look like hens. With even the hair appearing to grow to the top of the head. But in the pic, The blue on the head, the white wattle, and white enlarged bubbules on his neck, along with the center feathers on his tail being longer than the rest, tell you this is a very young jake, just coming into his manhood. Not to say hens don't strut and even gobble. Because I have witnessed it numerous times. The spindly beard means nothing. I have seen 3 and 4 year old toms without beards at all. That is why the WDFW allows us to shoot "toms" or bearded turkeys.

[BLH69]

Tom.

[Henrydog]

A Bruce Jenner Tom?

[turkeydancer]

A Bruce Jenner Tom?

Caitlin .....