Seems like an odd question, but I'm stumped by this one.

Shot a bird at 1130 the other day....he came in quiet to a series of yelps. Bright red head as he came in through planted pines. When I saw the beard, I thought it looked too long to be a jake, but not as long as a normal Tom. When he was on the ground, the spurs were smooth....you can see where they have formed, but they are smooth like a fall jake. Then I got back to the house, I noticed that the tail feather are even across the top. After he was down is head turned from red to bluish as well. He weighed 11-12#s. The beard was just over 7". So now I'm left scratching my head trying to figure out exactly what this bird is. I am fairly certain that it was a gobbler and not a hen, as it has all of the sex features of a gobbler. The small size and lack of spurs point to jake, the fan an longer beard point to more mature than a jake? Explanation much appreciated. First Spring bird for me in a long time.

Looks like a bearded hen to me...

Do you have any picture of the wing patch?

Unfortunately, no. The feathers closer to the body were shorter and lighter colored than the ones on the wing. Is that what you are referring to? Didn't keep it so can't take pics.

Looks like a bearded hen to me as well... even the hens have a noticeable spot on their leg where a spur would grow... if they were a boy.

No waddles, I'm going with hen

Its a dead bird. with a beard

I think it is a hen too..

You can tell a Jake from a Longbeard based on the wing patch feathers..

Male breast feathers are tipped with black.
Female breast feathers are tipped with light tan or brown.

it's a bearded hen

Well thanks for settling it for me. It should have been obvious I guess. I had that bird pegged for a male before I ever saw the beard due to the red hue to the head as it came in and the way it was acting....kind of circled around like a timid subordinate gobbler making sure he wasn't going to get stomped before coming all the way in. So with the beard I was positive....and if she had not had a beard I would have been confused.....just goes to show things aren't always as they seem! I've called a number of spring hens in over the years and never been confused like on this occasion. Guess it's been too long since I had my hands on a good gobbler for comparison!

Still was a fun hunt. Hope I get another chance to go after them before the season's over.