Question

[turks]

I was on another NY hunting website and saw photo of a fella and his turkey. In the description for beard length it states"Froze off".  My understanding of that desc is that it wwas a beardless tom.  Doesnt that make it a non harvestable bird? Or are there provisions in the rules that allow for this? Just curious

[whaler]

froze off meaning the bird got it stuck in some ice. Most of the birds I shoot in Upstate have around 11inch beards, haven't seen too many with bigger even when the spur lengths are over 1.5". 

 

I never would think that the beard could pull out of the skin. It would more like just break clean off but I could be wrong. So there would most likely be some semblance of a beard left. Just my thought on that... 

[growalot]

Myth #7: Gobbler beards suffer from rot due to mites and/or fungus.

Fact: Discolored and/or broken beards are usually caused due to lack of melanin.

"Microscopic examination of wild turkey beards shows no evidence related to the presence of mites or fungus," said Eriksen.

He explained that "Melanin is a dark pigment that makes turkey beards dark gray or black. When a beard has a lack of melanin, there may be a strip of orange or amber across the beard that not only affects the beard's color, but also its structural integrity, causing it to become brittle and susceptible to breaking off."

 

 

Edited May 30, 2013 by growalot

[Water Rat]

Regardless or how it broke off , it's weird how symmetrical it is.