I saw a trail cam pic of a gobbler with a bronze beard. The gobbler looked like a eastern and was the same size as the other gobblers in the photo. I didn't see any other unusual markings that would make me think it had any domesticated ancestors. I've hunted South Georgia and seen bronze and blonde turkeys. However, those birds were in one corner of Appling Co. so I suspect that they have some domesticated genes.

Yes. I've been told it's beard rot.

Did it look like this?

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It's commonly called beard rot, and I think it would have soon broken off at the amber area. I've killed other turkeys that already had a broken beard, and the ends were amber like this one is in the middle of it. If the entire beard is this color, well, I don't know.

Yup

The whole beard was bronze and appeared to be 8-10" long. Kind of a dark bronze. Definitely wasn't black.

Probably a melanin deficiancy, aka beard rot. It makes the beard brittle and they usually break off, but I have seen some that were 6-8” long. Post up a picture.

i've only seen this bronze'ing on the tips of a few gobblers i've killed ... not the whole beard, tho