Jakes

[Marc]

I am hunting California Rios (which are actually mostly hybrids of mostly Rio with some Eastern and some Merriam).  We had a few years of drought, and the turkey population thinned out considerably for a bit...

The last two years we have had good hatches, and a lot of young birds...  I have limited time, and no time to scout.

Every time I have gone out, I have set up on jakes, and successfully called them in...  I forgot how much easier it is to get a jake in range than a tom...  A lot of activity, and admittedly I did have some success on the opener (with my 5 year old daughter in tow)...  But it was after setting up on, and calling in multiple  jakes...

I went out this afternoon, and set up between a single bird gobbling, and a group of birds gobbling...  Although I could not see exactly what happened, it would appear the single came in quiet, and the three jakes were very vocal...

The jakes were coming in a straight line, and then went all the way around me (quickly), at which time I caught sight of turkeys running away from me (4 birds)...  At first I thought they must have seen or heard something they did not like, but I was well hidden and was a bit perplexed (maybe a coyote)?

Then 3 jakes came right at me rather quickly, strutting and gobbling...  My impression is that the single came in quiet, and the jakes heard him (probably drumming) and chased him out before coming into me...

While all of this was going on, I had heard some distant gobbles, and immediately moved...  I once again had a single bird gobbling, and then a group...  I tried to position myself closer to the single...  The group (another group of 3) gained ground quickly (gobbling the whole time) and the single initially came closer...  As the three jakes came closer, they seemed to approach the single (as opposed to directly to me)...  And, the single kept gobbling, but was moving away while the three jakes once again came in....

So, I am making some assumptions, that I would love clarification on...
It would appear that the jakes are kinda' like gang-bangers, and will intimidate single toms, if not drive them away.
With active jakes, the toms become less vocal, and more likely to come in quiet.
Toms (it seems to me) travel alone or in pairs, while jakes are more likely to travel in groups of 2 or more....

The tom I killed was a second year bird by my guess, and was travelling with 3 other jakes...  He was definetly the odd man out in that group...  He was straggling behind, and was the last to come in, and the first to (try) and leave (due to the antics of a 5 year old daughter).

I'd love to be able to better predict whether I am wasting time on jakes, or making a solid effort on a good bird...  Any notes from the veterans would be appreciated in this aspect.

[Marc]

My theories got all shot to heck this morning....

I was afforded a quick hunt, and worked a pair of jakes, and a single jake in....  The pair and the single came in from opposite direction and arrived at the same time (2 from in front, and 1 from behind)...  There was a bit of posturing, but the single ended up joining with the pair...  Interesting interaction.  I got made, trying to get my camera out for a picture when they were all about 10 feet away.

The birds I started off the roost, flew off to a different property (which is why I immediately set off on different birds), but I was able to get a look at them around 8:30 am....  4 jakes, 4 toms, 6 hens...  All in a big group in a large pasture.

[Rzrbac]

Your initial assumption was right. A group of jakes can and sometimes run off a mature bird. I've had it happen to me a few times. About 5 years ago I struck bird mid morning and on occasion could tell it was multiple gobbles. I set up and worked the bird in. It was a textbook mid morning scenario. As the gobbler strutted into range I heard another gobble behind him and could see more birds coming. Being greedy, I held my shot so I could pick out the biggest and I wanted to see them interact and possibly fight. I got my wish so to speak. It was 3 jakes and they ran my gobbler off. He would stay about 60 yards away and strut but never attempted to come any closer. The jakes nearly stepped on me and hung around there forever until all of them lost interest and went separate ways. That's not the only time I've seen jakes run a gobbler off, but that's the only time it cost me and it stands out a little more than some of the other times.