What do you think ...

[Cowboy]

I personally have no problem with a no Jake's rule with the exception of let a youth hunter take a Jake.  Given a little experience after a few Jake's under their belts, the kids will want to take a longbeard as well.

Agreed with Goosebat on this statement.  Youth hunters need to be able to have success easy on I think to show the seed so to speak.

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[Cowboy]

I hate spellcheck. EARLY ON TO SOW THE SEED

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[Howie g]

It's really not rocket science.... Either a 6 inch beard , or a full fan .  IMO if you can't determine either?
You shouldn't be shooting anyways .

[WV Flopper]

 I have seen well over a hundred turkeys flop that did not strut.

I have flopped quit a few short beards with 1 1/4" spurs.

So, we should let these old gobblers walk because they have a short beard and have been beat down by more dominate birds?Maybe the WV and Va birds I routinely hunt are not the same as the rest of the country, but I don't want a law here like that.

I can say, what we call beard rot may not happen in the south as it does here. I don't remember seeing any color in the beards of turkeys I have killed in Florida. But, regardless, the post dominate bird still is relevant. But most won't understand that.

[g8rvet]

Of the four public locales I hunt in North Florida, only one has a manned check station.  I do understand central and south are different.  I voted no.  My daughter is 28 and only recently decided she would shoot a bird.  If she gets a legit chance at a jake, I will encourage her to let it fly.  She did pass on a jake at 40 yards, which her gun will easily do, but she felt it was too far.  Proud of her. 

My nephew killed a hard gobbling bird on the manned check station area.  He was in full strut, gobbled his head off on the way in, but never turned, was in very thick vegetation and he craned his neck up and offered a good shot and he killed him.  We were both stunned it was a super jake. He might have actually made the 6" limit, it would have been close.  Of course, he could have waited and maybe we could have figured it out. 

I have had private places I hunt that were loaded with jakes one year and no gobblers the next.  Does not mean they did not survive on move on.  I just balk at increased regulations.  I also do not care for South and Central Florida's problems leading to tighter regulations for us in the North.  Happened with ducks (early wood duck season) and was problematic for trout and reds until they created smaller zones. 

Most deer hunters I know pass on small bucks.  Most turkey hunters I know pass on jakes. Isn't that good enough?

[Howie g]

I can only attest for what I see here in the dirty south .
The jake law is the single best law we have .
Even way before we had the jake law , grown men shooting jakes was frowned upon .

[Marc]

What would be the goal of a 6" rule?  In the overall scheme of things, I do not see it making a difference in turkey populations. 

It reduces opportunities for young or new hunters...  And, if someone shoots a "short" bird, and thinks there is any chance they will get checked, they will leave it lie, and probably not count it towards there quota.

Plus, it is my understanding that a second year bird has a better chance of breeding and surviving to the next season than does a jake (although I could be mistaken on that point).

First and foremost concentrate on habitat improvement which will go further to improve turkey numbers than any regulations on hunting...  And if turkey numbers are low enough that harvest numbers do make a difference, reduce harvest quota's and season length...

[Ihuntoldschool]

No biological basis for it. I don't see any need for regulating beard length.  Tagging a young gobbler has its own biological advantages.

[tomstopper]

I personally have no problem with a no Jake's rule with the exception of let a youth hunter take a Jake.  Given a little experience after a few Jake's under their belts, the kids will want to take a longbeard as well.

I agree with this. I would also add seniors & handicap individuals to the group who should be able to shoot Jakes

[ChesterCopperpot]

The issue with a beard length rule is beard rot. Best gobbler I ever killed had inch and three quarter spurs and a beard rotted off shorter than a jake's.


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[joey46]

Decent thread.  If nothing else it shows the need for Florida to get in the 21st century and implement some type of tag and report for turkey.  Adding some accountability for all their "free riders" such as the over 65 resident crowd is also badly needed even if just a gratis print out on the computer.  This wouldn't hurt a bit and is done in very limited circumstances such as Gulf Reef Fishing Permits (free and everyone needs one if Gulf reef fishing).  Impossible to even pretend to get  turkey harvest data without this.  Florida does not know how many actually hunt or fish.  Since turning 65 (now 75) I have taken 19 Osceolas.  One at a check station manned WMA (recorded by FWC), two on WMA quota hunts without check stations (bumped into wardens at both), and the balance on private land that went totally unrecorded.  So that's 3 recorded and 16 unrecorded.  During this time frame my frequent hunting buddy has taken around 15 or so.  All on private land that were not recorded by anyone.  Knowing this when I see FWC report a harvest of 13,007 to NWTF I think why bother?  Especially with the 007 (must be a James Bond fan in the bunch - lol)

I'm obviously diametrically opposed to a 6" beard rule.  Totally unnecessary and a burden to any public land hunter that isn't blessed with the time to get out multiple times over a season and be selective.  The public land hunters I know and have known all start the season wanting to get that big gobbler or big buck but are more than satisfied to make a decent shot and bring home some meat be it a 4 pointer or jake.  Florida residents often say "we don't care how you do it UP NORTH".  I don't care how you do it in Mississippi.  No SAVE THE JAKES stickers on my truck.  Good luck to all the rest of the season.

[g8rvet]

I think you should have to have had least 20 years of buying a license in the state before you get the over 65 exemption.  Too many snowbirds. 


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[joey46]

I think you should have to have had least 20 years of buying a license in the state before you get the over 65 exemption.  Too many snowbirds. 


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I researched this once.  Few states are as generous as Florida on this.  Even before turning 65 the Gold Sportsman license for residents was a good deal.

[Gobbler428]

  I personally don't have a problem with the no jake rule but do think an exception should be made for youth. As far as the beard length issue is concerned, I could live with that, but beard rot is an issue where I hunt and is a problem with this rule. Spur length, no way, i bet I haven't seen the spurs on 50% of the birds I've killed, either couldn't see them or didn't bother to look.

[Crghss]

As a Floridian we desperately need a tag system.

I don't shoot jakes. All for a no Jake (with some exceptions) rule but is that six inches?

I'm a public land hunter.