Last year was my rookie year into truly hunting for gobblers. I was ready and willing to shoot any bearded bird. A just visible beard jake would have been fine with me. Even when my tom was coming in I had thought he was a jake. His gobble was weak, and not as deep as some of the mature birds that I had gotten to come in. Also the fact he would only gobble once or twice, lead be to believe it was a jake with a hen, that did not want the boss tom to know he was around.
When I shot him he was half strutting and his bird was popped out / not dangling making me think he was actually a jake with maybe a 5-6" beard or so. He did not go into full strut so I could not see his fan. I shot with the expectation to have him as bigger jake. When I got up to him and saw he was a thin bearded longbeard I was pumped.
Now I have been thinking ever since that day that I would want to keep as many 2 year old or better birds in the areas I hunt and will pass up a jake. The more I think about it, I am imagining it will all come down to the hunt, I guess. If I am hunting hard all morning and at 10 I strike up a convo with a gobble, that is not clearly distinguished as a jake, and have to move, and play chess and such with the bird for a while, and he turns out to be a jake, I may shoot him. If a bird comes in and does not show me he is a full fan, and has a 5-6" beard, I may shoot him as well. These borderline birds are the ones I think will be the toughest for me to pass on. The little stub birds are most likely going to get the pass.
I remember someone posted a picture of the feathers that drape over the wings as another way to tell if the bird is a 2 year old or better bird.
I am not judging on this, and any legal turkey harvested is fine with me, just wondering if anyone is planning on shooting a jake this year if given the opportunity. I love to look at the gobbler that I had shot from this past spring and his full fan graces my den. I just don't think that the jake fan would look as good to me.
What do you guys who only want to shoot a 2 year old do if you have a gobbler with a 5-6" beard come in without revealing his fan. Do you give him a free pass, just based on beard length, or try to get him to strut? I know some turkeys beards can break and such in the winter, and imagine that this winter there may be some full fan birds around with these busted up beards. My buddy shot a full fan tom that had a stubby, thick 3-4" beard but sported over 1" spurs.
What are some other things I can key in on to tell he is a 2 year old or better bird.
I will not shoot a jake. But I have no problem with anyone else shooting one. Hunt for experiences! The game you take home is just a bonus!
I won't shoot a jake unless it's an accident. And yes, they have fooled me a few times before and ended up in the grease.
If I was in your shoes and just starting out,I would shoot any legal bird until I got a few kills under my belt.I'm not knocking you in any way for the choice you make the decision is ultimately up to you in the end.I just think you would benefit yourself by getting some experience of harvesting a few birds before I worried too much about longbeards only.
As far as other ways to tell if he's a mature bird,the fan is about the best way to tell.You can tell by spur length but if he's close enough to see spurs you ought to have the gun up and bearin down already.I've heard jakes gobble you'd swear were mature birds and vice versa.
And no I will not shoot a jake this year.If it comes down to jake or tag soup its tag soup for me. :z-twocents:
to me it is all about the experience, my first bird was a jake and I love that bird more than the huge tom I took with my gun last year. I hunted hard for that jake and I am proud of him. so to me it isnt about jake tom hen or even buck or doe I hunt for the woods and the experiences not the trophies taken. so as long as it is a good time with great memories have fun
If it is the end of the season I have been skunked and a jake comes in then he is toast; otherwise I will pass on them. However, I have no problem with others taking them if they want to. Hunting should be fun
You don't need our permission. Most of us choose not to, just about all of us have at some point.
Just go out, hunt, be safe, and have fun
Quote from: jakesdad on March 27, 2014, 09:04:01 AM
If I was in your shoes and just starting out,I would shoot any legal bird until I got a few kills under my belt.
This is really good advice; 100% agree with it.
For me personally, *any* "gobbling" bearded bird is subject to get the lead in the head treatment, independent of beard & spur & fan size. IJS. I'm not a greedy hunter, either - our state allows 5 birds per season. After I bag my first bird, I'm content to wait until a monster walks out, and *if* a jake were to cruise by, I'd probably let him walk, esp if I know for a FACT that a bigger bird is working that area. As the season wears along, though, and I haven't killed anything, been on a bunch of birds, am tired, etc. - a jake that's gobbling like crazy is dead meat.
I do not shoot Jakes, they just do not do it for me like a big Tom, but I can care less if someone else does, and that is part of it amongst friends to give em a little crap for shooting baby birds!!! As long as its all in fun!!!
I won't shoot a Jake on purpose. It's illegal here but I wouldn't even if it was. I'm not judging those whose can and do though.
I would take a jake I called and worked in,,,before I would belly crawl thur the brush to edge of field to ambush a long beard or one I flushed up to shoot
At this point I will not shoot a jake, however when I first started out I was happy with any legal bird. I did shoot a couple of jakes too, just to get the experience. Now I like to match wits with the big boys and let the teenagers walk.
If it doesn't have a full fan or a longbeard, I don't shoot it.
Not into killing jakes so I enjoy my encounters with them and let them walk off.
Quote from: CASH on March 27, 2014, 09:50:34 AM
You don't need our permission. Most of us choose not to, just about all of us have at some point.
Just go out, hunt, be safe, and have fun
Here ya go !!
I did last year and thought I was sooting a long beard ,he had a full tail but was a Jake .
Tail fan is the really only sure fire way to tell.
It all depends on how my season goes. I've shot a jake before after a long frustrating season. Jakes taste good ;D
If he really tempts me then yes. The season is short and Im going to make the most of what time I get in the field.
Maybe, depends on the circumstances. If I decide to take my bow out again this year, heck yes I will! Shotgun, probably not, but you never know. If it looks like a jake or tag soup at the end, well, jakes eat well, too!
absolutely not. but I also don't drop my standards just to kill a bird at the end of the year either. but that's just me its what ever floats your boat if it is legal.
Why not ? Jakes taste just as good on the grill as spike bucks do....... ;)
YUP!
Well, maybe, as the season hasn't opened here yet.
Ask me again in May.
I've been hunting turkeys since the 80's and sometimes I do, sometimes I don't shoot jakes, but I never rule them out unless I'm on a piece of private land where the owner wants to save them. I hunt mostly public land that has lots of pressure. Occasionally I will also get to hunt a little bit of private land that is just small acreage. So each year my chances to get a turkey are limited. Most years I do kill a tom or two, but there have been several years where I happily called in a jake and shot him. I love to hunt turkeys, I like to enjoy a meal or two of wild turkey as well, and jakes taste just as good to me.
I don't have a problem shooting a jake, especially if he gives me a good hunt!
if it gobbles and has a beard im dropping it if its in range. atleast for the first bird of the year
I don't drop my standards either I WILL shoot a jake from the first tag to the fourth one :funnyturkey:
yes I would just not first part of season to each there own :z-guntootsmiley:
No. However, if one comes in for my youth hunter or someone that has never taken a turkey before that's a different story. Their choice. :turkey2:
I will if I get a chance! I am planning to carry my TK2000 this spring and have never killed one with it.
Quote from: tnturkey on March 27, 2014, 01:31:05 PM
absolutely not. but I also don't drop my standards just to kill a bird at the end of the year either. but that's just me its what ever floats your boat if it is legal.
X-2
I will certainly try not to kill any jakes. But as others have said no shame in it for anyone. Turkeys are not easy to kill even when you're in a good area. I have seen them gobble 200 times in a morning and sound pretty darn mature. How can that not be fun? Almost all of us started out shooting some jakes but as I matured I set my goals a little higher just like with hunting whitetails. I ended up killing a jake last year late in the MO season. The thing gobbled a couple times on the roost far away then pitched into a clearing closer to me. I could see him as he strutted around a hen at about 200 yards. After a short series of yelps he popped his head up, saw my strutter decoy or like the call and came on a line. Knew he was a male legal turkey, had good body size. I shot him when he cleared a tree I had ranged at 40 yards never even thinking twice...he weighed 17 1/2 lbs and had a 5 inch beard. No spurs at all, definite jake but with the way he acted I got fooled. It was still a nice hunt experience but given some of the numbers of birds have been lower lately I was definitely not trying to shoot a young one. Last jake I shot prior to that just made me mad, he came into the strutter decoy and simply beat it to death, broke the stake off in the ground. Once he did that, he got a free ride to town :-) I say everyone have fun, and understand the choices you make affect the flock, and accept the results. Good luck this year everyone...
I had 3 jakes all over me for 2 hours last weekend (opening day) with all 3 being at 5 yds off the roost. I even ended up videoing them with my phone. Shooting one of them wasn't a consideration then. However...if I decide to shoot one at a later date I would do so without a second thought. If my longbow was in my hand last weekend I would have been eating deep fried jake all week.
Nope. I won't shoot unless I see a full fan, or a decent rope.
However, that is a decision I have made, and I am comfortable with that. If someone else wants to shoot one, that is their personal decision, and I will never judge another hunter for that.
Your hunt, your choice.
Lol I love it....
Not everybody has a 500+ acre lease loaded with strutting gobblers...
Quote from: Pressured Gobbler on March 28, 2014, 05:08:28 PM
Lol I love it....
Not everybody has a 500+ acre lease loaded with strutting gobblers...
Not everyone wastes their time bitching about how they only hunt public ground "wild" wild turkeys ????????????????????????
Some of us, when we are dissatisfied with our situations, get off our @$$e$ (and our keyboards) and go find more promising realities. ????????????????????????
Btw, there are many guys on here who hunt public land "pressured gobblers" and have no problem filling their tags.... With longbeards.
Quote from: NYGobblergetter on March 27, 2014, 09:06:56 AM
If it is the end of the season I have been skunked and a jake comes in then he is toast; otherwise I will pass on them. However, I have no problem with others taking them if they want to. Hunting should be fun
x2
Quote from: Pressured Gobbler on March 28, 2014, 05:08:28 PM
Lol I love it....
Not everybody has a 500+ acre lease loaded with strutting gobblers...
No we dont.Ive only got a few hundred acres of private thats got strutting gobblers..............because i've chosen not to shoot jakes.
I don't want to commit to a "no" but my goal this spring is 2 public land longbeards. I don't want to but I do eat turkey!
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I will not be shooting jakes anymore. I've shot a few, and certainly do not look down upon it, I'm just hunting for big boys from now on.
Quote from: Pressured Gobbler on March 28, 2014, 05:08:28 PM
Lol I love it....
Not everybody has a 500+ acre lease loaded with strutting gobblers...
I know several that tag out of public land... so imo invalid argument. there is properties out there go and get them if you're unhappy with public land. private land usually don't come by chance we have to work for them to.
I shot my last jake around 15 yrs ago...........but I love watching them gobble their heads off at every little sound.
Quote from: VaTuRkStOmPeR on March 28, 2014, 06:53:48 PM
Quote from: Pressured Gobbler on March 28, 2014, 05:08:28 PM
Lol I love it....
Not everybody has a 500+ acre lease loaded with strutting gobblers...
Not everyone wastes their time bitching about how they only hunt public ground "wild" wild turkeys ????????????????????????
Some of us, when we are dissatisfied with our situations, get off our @$$e$ (and our keyboards) and go find more promising realities. ????????????????????????
Btw, there are many guys on here who hunt public land "pressured gobblers" and have no problem filling their tags.... With longbeards.
and them people are my heros
I've passed on a lot of jakes the last few seasons. If they make it through the season they'll be longbeards the next year. I will say though that I'll be toting my bow a lot more this year and if I can take one with the bow, I just might. :funnyturkey:
Being new to it as you are, do whatever makes you happy!!!
Hm... yeah, I probably would if one came in. Still working on my first bird, and with two kids under 5 my hunting time is gonna be pretty limited, so, yeah... especially near the end of the season, anything legal that comes a-gobblin' is probably gonna be prone to a severe case of lead poisoning.
Quote from: jlawson382 on March 31, 2014, 12:36:10 PM
Hm... yeah, I probably would if one came in. Still working on my first bird, and with two kids under 5 my hunting time is gonna be pretty limited, so, yeah... especially near the end of the season, anything legal that comes a-gobblin' is probably gonna be prone to a severe case of lead poisoning.
If I was in your situation I would be doing the same thing!!
I hunt for the meat, not interested in how big, how old, how long is the beard or spurs. Not interested in how many points the deer has, I love to eat wild game. And as long as it's legal, I'm fine with that. I have only killed one turkey, last year, and yes it was a long beard. But in the morning I will be hunting meat.
I shot my 3rd ever jake this year with my first tag. Can't say I wouldn't do it again. I've let some walk and other times I've killed. I've always let the situation of the hunt dictate whether he lives or dies. All 3 I killed were fun hunts.
I will shoot anything with a beard during the late season.
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