On Saturday morning, April 15, 2023 around 10 a.m. in Lenoir County, NC, Brett Bodine shot this smoke-phase bearded hen. The hen weighed about 20 pounds and had a nice thick beard that measured 8 1/2 inches. Bodine used a Mossberg 500 12-gauge, with a Federal TSS Blended shot.
“It is my understanding through the research that I have done, that the smoke-phase melanistic turkey is about one in 100, and a bearded hen in itself is 10 percent or less. Not sure what the percentage is with a smoke phased melanistic turkey that happens to be a bearded hen as well,” Bodine said about the rare kill.
Bearded hens are legal to shoot in North Carolina, but illegal in South Carolina.
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Tag-A-Turkey
Congratulations to Bodine, who is now entered in our 2023 Tag-A-Turkey Contest.
This makes him eligible for our grand prize, which includes a 3-year subscription to Carolina Sportsman Magazine, a Thermacell prize package, a Convergent Hunting Solutions Bullet HP Bluetooth predator call, a Millennium Field Pro Turkey Seat, and numerous other prizes.
If you’d like to enter your gobbler in our contest, click here.
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