# Multi-beards



## multibeard (Mar 3, 2002)

Actually a tom will weigh more in the spring than in the fall if it is not in heavy snow. The added weight comes from the beast sponge they grow over the winter. The breast sponge is what they live off of during the breading season as they eat very little during that time period.

As nasty as it looks I leave it on my turkeys as it is not harmful to the quality of the meat when I roast them. It adds moisture to the meat. I do carve it off after they are roasted and do not eat it.


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## hypox (Jan 23, 2000)

DEDGOOSE said:


> Have heard the notion that if you have bearded hens you have a better chance dunno.


I see bearded hens regularly so this could very well be the case.


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## Jdhunttrapfish (Jan 14, 2016)

I watched 30 hens the other day and none had a beard, I thought atleast one would outta all those but i guess not


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## DirtySteve (Apr 9, 2006)

I have seen quite a few bearded hens behind my house they are quite common. I haven't seen a multi beard tom in 17 yrs of living here.


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## Firefighter (Feb 14, 2007)

My last multi beard. 

Had 5/8" spurs. 

Yawn.


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## TheLionsFan (Dec 20, 2011)

Firefighter said:


> My last multi beard.
> 
> Had 5/8" spurs.
> 
> Yawn.


Nothing yawning about that bird.


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## justdandy (Oct 15, 2010)

Firefighter said:


> My last multi beard.
> 
> Had 5/8" spurs.
> 
> Yawn.


What, you run out of beards to put on that bird?! Hahahaha yikes!


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## TSS Caddis (Mar 15, 2002)

Surprised so many people are scoring their turkey. Have never scored one or a deer for that matter. Not knocking it, just surprised it seems to be a priority.


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## Liver and Onions (Nov 24, 2000)

TSS Caddis said:


> Surprised so many people are scoring their turkey. Have never scored one or a deer for that matter. Not knocking it, just surprised it seems to be a priority.


Scoring ???

I looked thru the posts and could not find a single score mentioned. NWTF and CBM scoring were mentioned, but no scores. Several people wrote about the length of a beard or spurs, but again no score.
As far as measuring the length of beard or spurs, have you ever measured the length of a fish or took its weight on a scale ?
Did the doctor weigh and measure the length of your children when they were born ? 
Measuring something that is important to us or that we are proud of is a common event.

L & O


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## TSS Caddis (Mar 15, 2002)

If your not scoring your bird, you are not concerned about scoring method.

I may weigh a big fish, so not knocking. If I shoot a big Tom I may look it over for a couple minutes, but in the end, if your not in a blind you don't know when you pull the trigger what you have so I don't put much priority on size. Not a indicator of skill or anything, just a novelty. I guess I put more value on how hard the bird was to get in range.


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## Jdhunttrapfish (Jan 14, 2016)

TSS Caddis said:


> If your not scoring your bird, you are not concerned about scoring method.
> 
> I may weigh a big fish, so not knocking. If I shoot a big Tom I may look it over for a couple minutes, but in the end, if your not in a blind you don't know when you pull the trigger what you have so I don't put much priority on size. Not a indicator of skill or anything, just a novelty. I guess I put more value on how hard the bird was to get in range.


 yeah but whatever the bird is people want to know how big the spurs/beard is because they want to know if it's an old bird or not that they just called in, just like people trying to shoot an older buck because it's harder, turkey guys don't put so much emphasis on how big the bird before the shot, but if it does have big spurs or big beard it makes them proud to know they just shot an old bird, and they might just want to get it scored


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## ezcaller (Feb 21, 2009)

Some guys like blonds some guys don't.Some guys like beards some guys don't.


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## hypox (Jan 23, 2000)

I didn't know any of mine were multi's until they were dead. They were either the only tom I could shoot, or the bigger bird of the two.


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## hooks32 (May 13, 2015)

Never have pulled the trigger on a multi beard, only have seen 4 get killed over the years. Ill take long hooks over a multi bearded two year old IMO.


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## DirtySteve (Apr 9, 2006)

TSS Caddis said:


> Surprised so many people are scoring their turkey. Have never scored one or a deer for that matter. Not knocking it, just surprised it seems to be a priority.



I was never a guy to score before either but here is a story I posted on the whitetail forum once over a yr ago but it goes with this topic....

I have an uncle that is a hardcore turkey hunting fanatic. He got me and my cousins into it as a young kid calling for us. We have a family turkey hunting competition now with a cool plaque that is sort of like the Stanley Cup. The winner gets his name engraved and keeps it for a year. We all pitch in $10 and there is a little prize money as well but the trophy and bragging rights is the main prize.

My uncle always had his birds scored by cbm and urged us to have ours officially scored so he could have a record of the certificates for the family contest. He has a cool book of every bird from every year. Before the contest I never thought much about having an animal scored. Over the yrs my son's and I got a few in the book. 

Last yr my oldest son graduated high school and began applying for college scholarships. Most scholarships require essays and they have themes that generally revolve around leadership, dedication and accomplishments etc.... my son incorporated his love for the outdoors, hunting ,fishing etc.. in the theme of some of his essays. I came home one day and I see him copying his turkey certificates from cbm. I asked what he was doing. He said he was preparing a binder of information for a scholarship and he was including his certificates as proof of accomplishment in his passion. He ended up winning a regional award with that application. After that he included his cbm records on 4 more applications. He ended up winning money on 4 out of 5 that he used his certificates. Most of them were $100-500 range scholarships but one of them was an $8k scholarship from safari club international.

Occasionally I hear someone putting down the idea of having an animal scored. I like to remind them that these organizations like SCI, Pope & Young, and Boone and crockett are all conservation organizations. By sending in your $35 registration you are getting alot more for you money than just a score in a book. You are supporting all sorts of conservation efforts.....including helping the next generation of hunters become well educated stewards of the sport.


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## Liver and Onions (Nov 24, 2000)

DirtySteve said:


> .......
> .......... By sending in your $35 registration you are getting alot more for you money than just a score in a book. You are supporting all sorts of conservation efforts.....including helping the next generation of hunters become well educated stewards of the sport.


Great story. I will point out a correction for accuracy. The cost for a 1 year membership is $30.
For that cost, you, wife and school-age children can enter qualifying animals into the book besides supporting 1 of Michigan's conservation organizations.
Link:
http://buckfax.com/

L & O


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## DEDGOOSE (Jan 19, 2007)

I saw what I believe was two multi beards this am. One looked like 2 and the other a bunch. But as wet as the fields are it's hard to tell.


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## Firefighter (Feb 14, 2007)

Rarely can I tell a multi until I've taken my foot off it's head. This one is an exception:


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## Liver and Onions (Nov 24, 2000)

Recent turkey mount: Probably guessing the weight a little high.

http://abc7chicago.com/1822334/

L & O


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