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.
