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After reading a topic on here it got me to wandering. What is everyone's opinion and why? Personally I like to shoot older Toms like most people. BUT, Is there really any reason other than just wanting the bigger ,older, wiser bird? It is still a male turkey. If you take a jake instead of a mature tom you have still left a good bird in the field. Is there any research that says passing on jakes is better for the population? I am sure this has been discussed but just thought I would ask. Thanks

For me it is a restriction I put on myself to not shoot Jakes when I first starting hunting turkeys. I rally do not have a good reason other than it was something I decided to do, When I started taking my daughter turkey hunting a few years ago I told she could shoot any legal bird but she decided to follow the no jake rule. Multiple times she had jakes in shooting range, once at about 15 feet and she held off. I guess for me it is more about the hunt and very much less about the kill.

Me, know!    Anybody hunting with me, their choice.  If they're smiling I'm smiling.

This is just me personally... I would relate it to shooting deer. Some people are shooting the first thing that comes by ( if it's brown it's down), others look at Jakes like a spike buck. Their kind of dumb and do stupid things which make them an easier target to take down. Others, want the challenge of calling in and out-smarting that wise old buck (or Tom). AS mentioned in the other post, depends on first time hunter, or seasoned hunter. For me, I like shooting just the Tom's, as it gives the jakes another year or two to wise up and give me a challenge. I love the hunt ( even if it doesn't work) as much as the kill itself.

If you like eating turkey and are limited by tags, you'll get a lot more meat off a mature Tom than a jake. Maybe close to double.

What I say for me and those I'm hunting with, if a jake gets the heart thumping, and he plays the game like a mature smart bird, he's gonna die like one just the same.

Well for me when I had my car accident and pretty much lost all hunting for 17 years I was not dreaming about deer, I was not dreaming of duck, I was not dreaming of pheasant and I was not dreaming of jakes, for me the dream was to be able to get back and shoot a tom and with help and advise from members here I was able to tag my first turkey, a nice tom and it meant and still does mean the world to me. That said I think a person should be able to make their own choice one which they take. I had a jake land on my blind this year and go sliding down right in front of me and stand around trying to figure out what was going on, he gave me a good memory to share and to me he served his purpose for the year.

Now I know if it is scientific but Spring of 2021 I never saw a turkey til the last day of the season and then 5 jakes came out in front of me, I could have taken any of them but chose to let them walk, this Spring was the best season we have had there in quite some time, saw plenty of turkey including several toms. Maybe letting them go the previous year had something to do with it, maybe not, but I would like to think it did. I choose not to shoot bearded hens in the Spring and no hens in the Fall, just my choice.

As others have stated, I will not shoot jakes myself, but in most instances, if somebody I am with decides to shoot one, I am generally fine with it,...and especially if that hunter is a newbie.  Now, if one of my experienced hunting buddies decides to shoot a jake, again, I am fine with it,...but that person is going to take a serious, but good-natured, "ribbing" from me (and everybody else in our hunting group) about shooting a jake.  That's just the way we roll.   ;D

Above, I said I was "generally" fine with shooting jakes.  The exception for me would be if I was confined to a property where the turkey population was struggling.  In that specific case, I would be hesitant (if I were in charge) to allow the shooting of jakes and would probably establish some "up-front" rules to everybody about passing on them.  That rule would include an educational process wherein I would explain that a one-year-old gobbler has a good chance of surviving,...and reproducing,...if we give him a chance to live for another year or two. 

In healthy, stable turkey populations, if somebody wants to shoot a jake,...have at it.  It will just mean one less "voice" to be heard in the turkey woods next spring.  For me personally, having that voice to be heard in the future means more to me than shooting it as a one-year-old jake just to say I filled a tag.   However, as to the original post, I think allowing the decision to shoot or not-to-shoot to be made by that new hunter is the proper way to approach it.  :icon_thumright:

To each his own!
I have no issues with someone shooting a Jake if it makes them happy

In 20 or so years I have killed 3 I can think of. The last was a clear case of mistaken identity. He gobbled like a mature tom and the glimpse of his fan s he was approaching said mature. The next time I saw him was the top of his neck and head at 20 yards. I shot him and it turned out he was a super jake with all but 2 of his tail feathers grown out. I took all 17 pounds of him home and ate him happily. If I had known I would have passed but he was still fun.

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Quote from: Happy on September 14, 2022, 09:17:49 AM
In 20 or so years I have killed 3I can think of. The last was a clear case of mistaken identity. He gobbled like a mature tom and the glimpse of his fan s he was approaching said mature. The next time I saw him was the top of his neck and head at 20 yards. I shot him and it turned out he was a super jake with all but 2 of his tail feathers grown out. I took all 17 pounds of him home and ate him happily. If I had known I would have passed but he was still fun.

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You might get away with the "mistaken identity" spiel for 1 or 2 of them but 31 jakes in 20 yrs is pushing it just a bit

Shoot legal birds, after that it is a personal choice. I don't but I have no issue with it. Especially kids or newbies. Z

Hey in my defense I specified " the last" !!!

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  Jake's are on the menu for Fall Turkey Season . Too many Hens also in my area. If 10 Hens fly down in front of me again like last Fall Turkey Season,I am Blasting one again.

I have seen quite a few hunters shoot jakes out of state just so they don't eat tag soup and say that they have killed  in x number of states while chasing a  us slam. I personally don't get why a person could get excited  over killing a jake. Guess its like a participation  trophy  in a kindergarten class to me.

 LOL, you can keep your trophy's for Tee ball and I will take a Jake.  It does depend greatly on my daily attitude but I have no problem with you, your kid, your neighbor, or ME killing a Jake.

I have killed them, and WILL kill them again! Do as you want and don't be condescending upon others. Your beliefs do not make a law.

Some of you guys.

If they are legal and you count them in your yearly bag limit go for it.  Never had a problem with someone taking a legal bird.  I still have a big problem with the areas that have implemented a minimum beard length but that is a different subject I guess.

Quote from: Happy on September 14, 2022, 12:12:15 PM
Hey in my defense I specified " the last" !!!

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:TooFunny:

Who named them Jake's ... ? Why not young gobblers

Some of the old books do call them young gobblers and not jakes



If Happy had known that he would have admitted to shooting at least 32 of them instead of 31

Quote from: crow on September 14, 2022, 11:37:16 PM
Some of the old books do call them young gobblers and not jakes



If Happy had known that he would have admitted to shooting at least 32 of them instead of 31

WE are telling our age .. LOL... because some of these young guns would have never known they were called young gobblers back in the early years ...

I started hunting them in the late 1970s.  In Ohio at that time and they were called "jakes".  My first bird ever was a jake.  The last jake I shot was in 2016.  Last day of the Florida season and he came in with 8 to ten other jakes to attack a Funky Chicken decoy.  I was allowed one more bird that season.  He was it.  Fun stuff and he tasted just fine.  No reason to be elitist and put down any legal hunter for taking a legal bird IMO.  The "other forum" has a prolific poster that seems to want anyone shooting a jake to be put in prison.  Counter productive and unnecessary - again all IMO.  This subject usually turns into a hoot.  It has again.   

I didn't mean to start this controversy but then again I kind of knew it would. I was really trying to educate myself and see if anyone thought there were significant population reasons not to shoot one. But after 20 responses I am learning what I already knew. Big beards and big spurs are like big antlers. Mainly used to feed big ego's that we all have. The way I see it, if he gets my heart pumping, he did his job and I will be just as proud to carry him out of the field.

Good luck. :turkey2:

Quote from: jb1069 on September 15, 2022, 08:29:34 AM
I didn't mean to start this controversy but then again I kind of knew it would. I was really trying to educate myself and see if anyone thought there were significant population reasons not to shoot one. But after 20 responses I am learning what I already knew. Big beards and big spurs are like big antlers. Mainly used to feed big ego's that we all have. The way I see it, if he gets my heart pumping, he did his job and I will be just as proud to carry him out of the field.

I am not convinced lots of jakes make it to two years of age. They get run off from the family flock in early fall. The extra time that jennies get with the mother hen and other mature turkeys through their first year of life gives them an edge in survival. Jakes are the easiest bird to fool is why I think most hunters' personal goals leave jakes off the score card. When you think of how many hens a gobbler can breed and that only the dominant gobbler does most of it, high numbers of jakes reaching maturity is not necessary. The people that argue differently I know have a lot of private acreage and trap extensively. Of course shooting a jake guaranteeing he'll never reach two years old is hard to argue with also.
To me it's a personal choice that does not make you better or worse.  I think disease, predation, habitat, etc makes a much bigger impact. Let the controversy begin.  :)

 Pssst, crow. It was 34 but they got lined up just right....  :TooFunny:


I was directing this joke at myself messing with crow, didn't word it clearly.  :-[   I think they got it though  8)

Quote from: tal on September 15, 2022, 02:27:26 PM
Pssst, crow. It was 34 but they got lined up just right....  :TooFunny:

I think y'all are just jealous.

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It's nice and cool out today, did you get all of your corn trenches dug  :goofball:

Had a day this spring where a gobbler came in to a call, in range but out of sight below the crest of a ridge.
3 young gobblers ran him off, they came in to 23yards with one of them doing a Jake gobble several times. They all walked, hope they make it to next year or maybe see them this fall.

Had I been using an antique flintlock I sometimes hunt with I'm not sure I could of restrained myself :TooFunny:


Shoot what makes you happy, don't worry about other people.

I think of jakes as button bucks,--- they taste good, most likely was fun but it's not as hard of a challenge as a gobbler and at some point you might not have the same sense of satisfaction as calling in a gobbler.


Now I need to go finish digging a trench, or 2

Quote from: tal on September 15, 2022, 02:21:03 PM

Quote from: jb1069 on September 15, 2022, 08:29:34 AM
I didn't mean to start this controversy but then again I kind of knew it would. I was really trying to educate myself and see if anyone thought there were significant population reasons not to shoot one. But after 20 responses I am learning what I already knew. Big beards and big spurs are like big antlers. Mainly used to feed big ego's that we all have. The way I see it, if he gets my heart pumping, he did his job and I will be just as proud to carry him out of the field.

I am not convinced lots of jakes make it to two years of age. They get run off from the family flock in early fall. The extra time that jennies get with the mother hen and other mature turkeys through their first year of life gives them an edge in survival. Jakes are the easiest bird to fool is why I think most hunters' personal goals leave jakes off the score card. When you think of how many hens a gobbler can breed and that only the dominant gobbler does most of it, high numbers of jakes reaching maturity is not necessary. The people that argue differently I know have a lot of private acreage and trap extensively. Of course shooting a jake guaranteeing he'll never reach two years old is hard to argue with also.
To me it's a personal choice that does not make you better or worse.  I think disease, predation, habitat, etc makes a much bigger impact. Let the controversy begin.  :)

So one way of looking at it would be. Killing a jake instead of a gobbler would improve the chances of more hens getting bred later in the season thus improving the chances of more reproduction. On the filp side, if you kill a gobbler will the Jake step up to cover the duties? and will the hen let him?

I agree all the other factors have a bigger impact.

For me, it's no. I hunt in MS mostly and was not shooting jakes before the rules changed to make them off limits. It comes down to this for me: while I eat every turkey I take the bottom line is I hunt for the strut and gobble. Jakes do neither as well as they will as a 2yo.... No one taking time to read this forum has to feed a family on wild game- we do so bc we like it ( not as a necessity).Therefore I am personally content to pass him, give him another season and take the chance he ll strut and gobble just for me next season....

Too many assumptions there.  While it is great that myself and many others here can get out multiple times a year and can be very selective many are only a few weekends (days) a season guys.  For them to be limited to 2 year olds and be required to guess at beard length is an unnecessary hardship IMO.  If you include scouting days I probably got out 30 plus days last season on both private and public land in two different states.  I didn't shoot any jakes in 2022 but if the season had been about over and a legal bird walked in he would have been heading for the oven.  Cooking and eating the birds is a big part of the whole experience for me.

OP asked for opinions on a question that interested me.... Like everyone who posted (so far) I gave just that. I assumed that it's was posted to get a respectful back and forth between people who share a love for hunting this bird (but not necessarily the same opinion).

I hunt turkey for the fun of dance. I want to have a fun hunt with a mature bird. I don't shoot jakes because it's not the hunt I'm looking for.

On private land I've let 2 year olds walk. I had more days to hunt and wanted that old Tom, coming in with a slow full fan strut across a wide open field. Clucking and purring the whole way. If happens great. If it doesn't thats great too. Had a blast calling the turkeys I passed on.

Other people can do as they please. Makes no difference to me what other people do.

Quote from: Prospector on September 17, 2022, 09:07:41 AM
OP asked for opinions on a question that interested me.... Like everyone who posted (so far) I gave just that. I assumed that it's was posted to get a respectful back and forth between people who share a love for hunting this bird (but not necessarily the same opinion).

You assumed correctly sir. Just looking for good conversation.

Bang - dinner!

Not legal here in MS but I wouldn't shoot them if they were. I've seen guys from here go to the midwest to reservations and shoot every jake they see so they can come home bragging that they killed X # of turkeys, never telling their buddies they were all jakes. I remember maybe 20 yrs ago a guy from La. checked in over 20 turkeys, mostly jakes.
I don't have a problem with a kid shooting one but after that it's long beards.

I agree with most on here.  I do not shoot jakes even if it is legal and will eat a tag or tags given that choice.  IMO jakes and hens are the future of the turkey population and should remain off limits.  With that being said, when I take someone new to the sport, jakes aren't off the table.  As someone said earlier, it's like deer hunting, when you first start out does and young bucks are trophies.  Don't discourage the harvest of legal animals for new hunters but do educate them on the future of the sport. 

Never have, never will shoot a jake. 
My grandfather taught me that killing jakes is just stealing longbeards from your own future. He said that 100% of the gobblers you kill never get to chance to get any bigger.

During the peak of the pandemic, lots of jakes around here got taken out.  Since every day was like Saturday and so many hunters were home from work, the male turkey population got absolutely hammered.  The numbers here haven't recovered yet. 

Grandaddy also told me that killing hens was counterproductive.  It doesn't make sense to kill egg layers, especially in these days of declining turkey populations.  The only hens legal to kill here in North Carolina are bearded.  Many hunters have never seen a bearded hen.

You do you, but the immature birds are safe from me.

Jim

I personally won't shoot them. If they make it they are more likely to reproduce and be birds I will hunt next year. If anybody else wants to do it that is completely up to them. They just really don't trip my trigger


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