Question on Jakes and Beards

[bowmike]

I had a blast this past season, but had not found a way yet to make turkey taste decent. For this reason and the sport of harvesting only 2 year old or better birds, I decided I would not want to shoot a jake if one would come in to my calling.

Being that last year was my first real year as a turkey hunter, and not really being around turkey all that much; how can you tell that a beardered bird is infact mature. My main conscern is if a bird is coming in with lets say a 5 or 6" beard and not strutting. I really do not care about beard length as long as the bird has a full fan.

I can tell it is a mature bird if it has a long thick beard. I know you can tell some times by their spurs but they can be decieving and tough to see in the thicker woods. But my issue comes up when the bird has a beard like the bird i harvested this year. Skinny and not very thick.





Sort of tough to see in the pictures, but when he came in his breast feathers were a bit raised, and his beard was covered up by about 2 or 3" I had thought he had a 5-6" beard when i pulled the trigger. I did not care if I had shot a jake last season for my first bird but was happy to see he had a 8 1/8" beard and full fan when it was all said and done. I originally thought he was an older bird but after reading up, hearing from the guys on here, and such i am convinced he is a solid 2 year old bird.

I can tell a bearded bird is a  jake easily if they are strutting because of the non-circular tail fan pattern (non-fullfan). I can also tell if the bird only has a stub beard or something like that. But how do you tell if it is a mature bird if it only has a 5-7" beard and is not strutting.

I have seen many videos where jakes would come in and do sort of a half strut, and they seem to hold their head in a weird manner, like sort of looking up into the trees.

Any help on this would be appreciated. I don't want to mistake one of the 5-7" bearded jakes for a full fan bird.



The bird on the left looks to have a 5-7" beard and you can pick out his non full fan. The bird in the back looks to have a 7-8" beard and has a full fan. If neither of these birds were strutting how would you tell the first bird is a jake without looking at his fan.

This is an older picture but was actually taken on August 2nd. LOL

Are there guys on here who do not shoot birds that they believe to be 2 year olds. I can see where this would even be more tricky.

Thanks,

Mike

[redarrow]

I don't believe there is a fool proof way to tell until the bird is dead on the ground. Jakes will sometimes have full fans. Old gobblers will sometimes have short beards. The sound of the gobble helps. Old birds will rattle the woods with their gobble. Jakes will most of the time have a short abbreviated gobble.Don't forget hens can gobble too (kinda rare) and even have beards .Your best bet is the spur length if you can see them.Unless he struts in the open,shows off his fan ,sticks his beard in your face,and gives you a good look at his spurs,it's sometimes gonna be a guessing game. Your first bird is a trophy in my opinion regardless of age or size. Looks exactly like my first. 8 in.beard,full fan.1/2 in. spurs.Don't put so much into the trophy hunt that it takes away from the enjoyment of the hunt.

[bowmike]

I see your point, and my first bird was probably my favorite hunting memory so far. I just don't want to shoot an immiture animal that doesn't really taste good anyway. Thanks for the tips.

Trust me. I pretty much grocery hunt for deer. They are all trophies to me, but I really could care less about horns. It all depends on the hunt and such for if I will pull the trigger on a 1 1/2 year old buck. And if I harvested a doe prior to seeing the buck.

I also could care less about beard length or spur length on a tom, in a trophy sense, just would rather shoot a more mature animal, and let the jake go. If I would have a mistake kill and it ended up having a jake fan, I would not be mad and still treat it as a trophy and mount its fan and such, but would be a bit bummed knowing that next year he could have been a mature gobbler.

Kind of catch 22 with the fact that i don't care about waiting for a mature buck, but want to harvest only mature gobblers. 

[TRKYHTR]

First off the turkey on the left is NOT a Jake it is a mature turkey. In August these turkeys are molting and thats why he looks like he has a jake tail. Other than the tail and beard you can look at the wing patch. On a mature turkey it will be 3-4" long and a Jake will be half that. Here is a picture that shows what I am talking about.

TRKYHTR

[bowmike]

Thanks for the wing flap refference. Good stuff to take notice. I thought that bird looked pretty big.

[lonnie sneed jr.]

I can tell you how to fix a wild turkey and it will be as good as any meat you will ever eat. Its so good it will make your tong slap your lips off of your face. Young or old turkey is good.

Cut the breast into slices about the size of your thumb, after that beat it like a stake, roll in flour and fry on med. heat until Golden brown. After meat is done pour a bottle of John Boy and Billy grilling sauce over the meat in the pan still on med. heat. Let simmer until it looks like it has caramelized. Dip in ranch dressing when eating.

[redarrow]

I can tell you how to fix a wild turkey and it will be as good as any meat you will ever eat. Its so good it will make your tong slap your lips off of your face. Young or old turkey is good.

Cut the breast into slices about the size of your thumb, after that beat it like a stake, roll in flour and fry on med. heat until Golden brown. After meat is done pour a bottle of John Boy and Billy grilling sauce over the meat in the pan still on med. heat. Let simmer until it looks like it has caramelized. Dip in ranch dressing when eating.

Dadgummit Lonnie,my tongue just slapped my dentures clear across the floor just reading that recipe.Sounds like something I need to try.After I get me some poly grip.

[bowmike]

My dad was doing chicken halves on his smoker. I smothered the legs in oldbay, salt, and pepper. They tasted pretty good but all of the tendons got annoying.

I am thinking about taking a breast half, slicing it and making it like cordon blue but top the whole breast with bacon.

[lonnie sneed jr.]

The only thing I do with the legs and back is cook them in the crock pot until they fall apart. Thin I get all the junk out of the meat and the wife makes turkey salad out of it. It is quite abit of work but it does make a good sandwich.
Another good way to fix a breast is to cut it into strips and beat it. Put the meat in a bowl and cover it with French dressing and cover the bowl. let set overnight. Cook the next day on the grill. The wife and I like it both ways I have talked about but our fav. is with the John Boy and Billy grilling Sauce. My dad will almost hurt you for a piece fixed like that lol. OOOO yea you can also use Zesty Italian dressing if you don't like French.  good luck

[Devastator]

thought spur length had something to do with it.