Identifying Jakes.

[redarrow]

There have been a few post lately on shooting jakes and while I have no problem with anyone shooting them I wanted to point something out.The tail is not a fool proof indicator of a turkeys age.Mature birds do have full fans. Jakes usually have the fan with the longer tail feathers in the middle. Usually.A few years ago I shot at a tom that came in with his running mate.I had no intention of shooting them both.I was certain there was plenty enough room between them for a shot that would only take one of them.Well they both went to floppin and the rest is history. Anyway the only difference between them was the tail fan. 3 inch beard,no spurs,16-18 lbs.

[JVA54]

I killed a jake  with a full fan too.

[davisd9]

The full fan bird may not have been a jake but not quite a true 2 yr old.  This can happen when conditions are right for breeding to occur later in the year, wet or cold spring.  One has to actually look at the whole bird and see if his feathers have molted to a mature birds. I shot a bird last year that I was certain was a mature bird but when I walked up to it I questioned it because of the spurs (1/2") and beard (5").  I had a friend look at it that knows a lot more than I do about this type thing and he said the feathers were that of a mature bird and that it was probably hatched in late June or July rather than in April to the 1st of May.  Of course you would not take the time to do this in the field when deciding when to shoot but one can look afterwards. Either way full fan means I am squeezing the trigger.

[g8rvet]

I killed one (running with three other carbon copies) that has 9" beard and a full fan, but just a shade over 3/4" spurs.  Always just assumed he was a very early model 2 year old.  Maybe he was more like a late model from the year before.      He was gobbling, his buddies were gobbling, he had a long enough beard and he was delicious. 

[Skeeterbait]

The tail feathers will be even after the bird's first molt.  This could possibly vary due to hatch time and the given bird's genetics.  So an early hatched bird may molt ahead of other birds that year but regardless, once he has molted he is technically no longer a jake. 

Another useful indicator is the length and curve of the wing coverlets.

[g8rvet]

very cool skeeter, thanks.

[alloutdoors]

I killed one (running with three other carbon copies) that has 9" beard and a full fan, but just a shade over 3/4" spurs.  Always just assumed he was a very early model 2 year old.  Maybe he was more like a late model from the year before.      He was gobbling, his buddies were gobbling, he had a long enough beard and he was delicious.

That's a two year old. 3/4" spurs are pretty much the standard on two year olds.

[mudhen]

The tail feathers will be even after the bird's first molt.

This 

Hi, my name is Jake...



mudhen

[g8rvet]

That's a two year old. 3/4" spurs are pretty much the standard on two year olds.

Really?  I think of the 1" or very slightly over as 2 year olds.  Just may be that I have always killed slightly older 2 year olds, or it may be the timing of the hens laying here in Florida, but all but one of what I considered 2 year olds had 1" at least spur.  Interesting.

[DirtNap647]

interesting read

[davisd9]

That's a two year old. 3/4" spurs are pretty much the standard on two year olds.

Really?  I think of the 1" or very slightly over as 2 year olds.  Just may be that I have always killed slightly older 2 year olds, or it may be the timing of the hens laying here in Florida, but all but one of what I considered 2 year olds had 1" at least spur.  Interesting.

Have always heard 0 - .5" is Jake, .5" to 7/8" is two year old, and 1" or better is three years or older.  Another way to tell a two yr old is by looking at his beard, if the tip are amber then you have a two year old bird. 

[Skeeterbait]

Spurs are not a good indication across the nation as certain areas the habitat they live in wears them off.  The nutrition the bird gets will also influence overall growth including spur growth from area to area.  The amber tips on the beard is a good indicator of 2 vs 3+ unless you have a bird who has a melanin deficiency in his beard.  A turkey who goes thru a period of time where it is sick, injured or near starvation can have a period of time that the beard growth during that time will be melanin deficient and will result in a blond stripe in the beard.  This section is brittle and the beard can break off in this area.  So a 3+ year old bird can have a blond tip on his beard in this case.

[Tommy Strutsalot]

Some pretty good knowledge going on around here.  I'm certainly no expert in aging birds, in fact in my world it's either a Jake or a Longbeard.   I don't go any further in guessing.  This is a bird I killed a couple years back on a double with my buddy, if ya'll had to guess how old do you think?  I always kinda just assumed he was a two year old...

Didn't get to weigh him, drank too many beers too fast and never did get around to it. 



Picture of the wings


Beard- 10.5"



Spurs - 1.25"

[Skeeterbait]

It might not have showed up in the picture but I cannot see any amber tips on the beard.  If you have the beard look closely at the tips in good light.  If they are black to the very end then the bird is 3 or more.  But after 3 it is anybody's guess if the bird might be 4,5,6 or more.

[davisd9]

It might not have showed up in the picture but I cannot see any amber tips on the beard.  If you have the beard look closely at the tips in good light.  If they are black to the very end then the bird is 3 or more.  But after 3 it is anybody's guess if the bird might be 4,5,6 or more.