Want to see what opinions are here... Deer hunters argue between trophy class horns and putting supper on the table. I wanted to know do most members here think a called in Jake bird or young gobbler is still a trophy by any age hunter or skill level?
I think the trophy is in the eye of the hunter. I personally am not to picky when it comes to deer. We eat a lot of deer meat at my house. I still won't hunt over bait or use trail cameras but I will take a legal deer if its an adult and I have the tag and could use the meat. On the other hand I am not into shooting jakes as a rule but I have killed two in my lifetime. Still if a jake makes the hunter happy then that's their call.
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It's all in the eyes of the beholder. If you're happy with him and how you got him, then no need to worry about what others think. Whatever it takes to keep it exciting for you.
Happy's first sentence sums it up for both deer and turkeys. If your happy with it, I'm happy for you!
Jakes are off limits for the same reason I don't shoot fawns. Besides if meat was the reason for hunting there's ALOT cheaper ways to get a turkey to eat. License gas and one cheap turkey shell would buy you a turkey cleaned and frozen.
All in the eyes of the hunter. I hunted a bird years back that gave me fits. Took 3/4 of the season to get him in. Turns out he was a jake. He went home with me and I was happy with him. Hunted one year with my arm in a sling and had to shoot one handed. The jake I killed that year was a trophy to me. Actually, those two birds are probably more memorable than most others. My 5 bearded bird came running in to my first set of calls and my 12" beard 1 3/8" spurs bird flew of the roost into gun range. I feel that the hunt(or hunts) for an animal make it a trophy, not the size.
Shot what gets your heart pumping, makes you proud to take home, and you will use and eat... That said even though I eat the turkeys I kill I don't hunt them for their meat if that makes sense. I won't shoot Jake's and I've even passed on scrubby toms that didnt get me excited enough to pull the trigger.
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At some point in your hunting career, you learn to put away the tape and realize the trophy is in the details.
Quote from: SteelerFan on May 01, 2017, 09:04:16 PM
At some point in your hunting career, you learn to put away the tape and realize the trophy is in the details.
Well said
I shoot first the legal animal in range.
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It's all about the hunt! The rest are just details...
MK M GOBL
I think the trophy is the eye be holder, it's what ever makes you happy.
Quote from: kyturkeyhunter4 on May 01, 2017, 09:57:07 PM
I think the trophy is the eye be holder, it's what ever makes you happy.
Agreed
Quote from: kdfester on May 01, 2017, 09:18:45 PM
Quote from: SteelerFan on May 01, 2017, 09:04:16 PM
At some point in your hunting career, you learn to put away the tape and realize the trophy is in the details.
Well said
X 2
The last jake I killed was a Rio in west Oklahoma. Him and 2 other jakes came on a string to my calling, gobbling every 2nd step of the way. I had already killed a long beard on that trip so I had one tag left. I didn't even hesitate to pull the trigger. They had my heart racing in my throat so those jakes (it was a double with my brother in law) were a great trophy to us. Ate the same too!
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Quote from: SteelerFan on May 01, 2017, 09:04:16 PM
At some point in your hunting career, you learn to put away the tape and realize the trophy is in the details.
Perfect.
Quote from: SteelerFan on May 01, 2017, 09:04:16 PM
At some point in your hunting career, you learn to put away the tape and realize the trophy is in the details.
Quote from: kyturkeyhunter4 on May 01, 2017, 09:57:07 PM
I think the trophy is the eye be holder, it's what ever makes you happy.
Amen. Who cares what other people think!!
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I don't shoot jakes and wont let the people I take hunting shoot a jake. but, if you want to give me one ill dang sure eat it.
It don't matter what it looks like, if it's a life size mounter or a little jake. If it's legal I pull the trigger. Hunting has always been about memories and there ain't a damn animal I have harvested that doesn't have a story behind it. I don't discriminate becuase that wise ol gobbler with the 12" beard has the same opportunity to be killed as a jake does.
All longbeards are trophys to me. I never weigh them, or measure spurs or beards.
A trophy is really in the eye of the beholder. I have seen folks (young and old) be so proud of something (deer, turkey, etc.) only to have a jackwagon degrade it. Thats just wrong and unsportsman like IMO. :angry9:
Here's my opinion, for what it's worth.
As long as you kill it (legally) and it's for the right reasons then it's a trophy.
This fall I shot a small 8 pointer with my bow. Maybe 100",but I could have cared less. He was the most vocal buck I've ever heard and he was the first buck I killed on my farm. I've passed plenty bigger than him but not on my place. A week later, our firearms season opened. I sat on my place just to keep people run off and watch for road hunters. Somebody shot south of my place and a few minutes later here comes a 9 pointer (140"). Pretty uneventful but I was glad to kill him. I was much more proud of the smaller buck though.
In 1999, I attended training in South Carolina. I was gone for a couple of months and scheduled to return home on the last day of turkey season. I drove through storms and had to take detours due to roads closed to make it home. I got home at 2:00 in the morning. Kissed my wife and son, showered grabbed my stuff and drove 2 more hours to get to my lease. One bird gobbled that morning. I worked him for about 30 minutes and could finally see him coming up the holler. I had the safety off and could have killed him much sooner than I did. I was enjoying watching him Gobble at crows darting down at him. At 30 yards he broke into a strut and wouldn't you know it, a jake. I don't shoot jakes but I made an exception for him. He put on a great show and gobbled like a big bird. I was thankful for him and just as proud as if he had been a longbeard.
Bottom line is I measure my trophies different than the established standard some use. If I hunt hard and want to legally kill whatever game I'm pursuing, I will. As long as the man in the mirror is happy, that's all that counts.
Quote from: J-Shaped on May 01, 2017, 07:43:57 PM
It's all in the eyes of the beholder. If you're happy with him and how you got him, then no need to worry about what others think. Whatever it takes to keep it exciting for you.
Yep. :icon_thumright:
Too much emphasis on trophies today and not enough on the quality of the hunt and the enjoyment derived. A trophy is what you think it is, not what someone else thinks or does. If you are happy with your trophy, everyone else should be too.
Posts like these give me hope for the future of sportsmen and women. Too many shows on TV showcasing huge unattainable trophies and maxing out on every bag limit. The common person does not "rate" in their books. Let's keep our focus on the prep, the hunt, the outdoors, the beauty of a sunrise and birds awaking the woods.
I absolutely hate the fact that the first thing a lot of guys ask after you say you got a buck is "what did it score". Same with turkeys. I've never in my life "scored" an animal. I killed it, I'm happy with it, so who cares. Scoring = bragging in my opinion. I miss the good old days when you could tell people that you got an 8 point or a nice bird and they said congrats. No question on score or details so it could be compared with someone else.
I don't shoot jakes and I don't shoot bucks that aren't 4.5 or older, because that's what makes me happy. Shoot what makes you happy, unless you're hunting on my dirt. Then you shoot gobblers and 4.5+ year old bucks.
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Guys ask ,how long was the beard? My standard reply is ,"the usual 2 year old lenght".
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Quote from: beakbuster10 on May 02, 2017, 08:20:54 PM
I don't shoot jakes and I don't shoot bucks that aren't 4.5 or older, because that's what makes me happy. Shoot what makes you happy, unless you're hunting on my dirt. Then you shoot gobblers and 4.5+ year old bucks.
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Lol. On my stomping ground you'd never shoot a buck! Do you ask for birth certificate before you shoot?
Quote from: Farmboy27 on May 02, 2017, 08:35:27 PM
Quote from: beakbuster10 on May 02, 2017, 08:20:54 PM
I don't shoot jakes and I don't shoot bucks that aren't 4.5 or older, because that's what makes me happy. Shoot what makes you happy, unless you're hunting on my dirt. Then you shoot gobblers and 4.5+ year old bucks.
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Lol. On my stomping ground you'd never shoot a buck! Do you ask for birth certificate before you shoot?
Lol no. It's really not hard to tell when a buck is 4.5+. The majority of the bucks we kill, we already know them and have decided to kill them before we ever step foot in the woods. That takes a lot of the guess work out of it.
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I don't take (quote) trophies per se. ive never kept a beard, ive never kept the spurs. that stuff all goes in the turkey hole with the carcass. I hunt turkeys for the extreme adrenaline rush and the meat. the last jake I shot I was 16 years old (33 now) and I felt ashamed. don't know why but i did and ill never shoot another one. i don't shoot young deer either.
It all depends on the situation. If I have a lot of time to hunt or know there are a lot of longbeards in the area, I'll give the jakes a pass and save the tag for a mature bird. If I'm getting desperate, then I'll shoot a jake. Never did understand why shooting a jake is looked down upon, guys shoot hens, poults, and jakes in the fall, why is the spring any different? ???
As long as a bird is taken legally I don't care what size the turkey is. Any turkey is a trophy. However somebody else wants to spend their tag is up to them.
I'm not going to shoot a jake because I was raised that way. My grandfather always told me that killing a jake was stealing longbeards from the future. He also told me that if you could consistently kill mature gobblers, you had achieved impressive hunting ability. Most of the properties I hunt are fairly small and if I started killing jakes, I definitely wouldn't see as many longbeards. I hunt for the pursuit and the meat. I want as much of each as I can get.
Jim
Quote from: Farmboy27 on May 01, 2017, 08:31:24 PM
All in the eyes of the hunter. I hunted a bird years back that gave me fits. Took 3/4 of the season to get him in. Turns out he was a jake. He went home with me and I was happy with him. Hunted one year with my arm in a sling and had to shoot one handed. The jake I killed that year was a trophy to me. Actually, those two birds are probably more memorable than most others. My 5 bearded bird came running in to my first set of calls and my 12" beard 1 3/8" spurs bird flew of the roost into gun range. I feel that the hunt(or hunts) for an animal make it a trophy, not the size.
I would agree with that. Not necessarily how big the bird was, but how it all went down. For instance, I got my butt kicked in 2016 in my home state. On the 11th morning in a row, I finally killed. It was a 2 year old and that bird still means a whole lot to me even though Ive technically killed bigger since ten and before then. Another "trophy" was taking a public land mountain bird with my grandpas brothers Ithaca 20 gauge. That made 3 generations to take with that gun and it means a lot to me. My first small bore bird (with a 28) will always be a trophy. Those I had to work for are trophys.
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My big stigma is people who kill an animal just to kill it. I have no respect for that whatsoever and whoever is capable of that has something wrong with them. I am not talking predator/population control. I am talking about the person who kills an animal with no reason other than that they can. My kids are raised with the understanding that if they kill it then they are going to clean it and eat it. And if you waste an animal then that's just as bad.
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