shooting a jake

[stinkpickle]

It depends on my mood.

[redarrow]

Well,to me its like shooting a young buck . I'm deer hunting,so I will shoot a young buck. If I'm turkey hunting and a Jake comes in,he's probably going home with me too.If I'm a guest of someone and they have rules ,or ask that I don't shoot Jakes . I have no problem with that either.

[TScottW99]

I have never shot a jake.  Not saying I never will but I have so far made the personnel choice of only shooting mature birds. 

I have no problem with someone who wants to shoot a jake.  They are perfectly legal in my state if a hunter of any age wants to shoot one.

[ShotgunDave]

Shoot whatever makes you happy. I say that about deer as well.  But don't be the first one complaining that there are no mature bucks or toms around when you have a wall full of jakes and 4 pts.

I only shoot him if he's going on the wall or if he's a mature bird.

[935hevi]

prob not cause in 2 years he'll be a slammer

[Scottyb]

Normally, here in my home state, unless it is late and I have not killed anything I wont. I have however shot two that I was certain were longbeards, only to end up being jakes.

On  a trip it is a different story. I will shoot a jake if it means eating tag soup, depending on the rules and all of the state and or landowner or club.

I have had a few incredible hunts with jakes, some more exciting than with lonbgbeards, and didnt pull the trigger as many times as I have shot them.

I shot a jake in MO last spring, the first morning I was there. I started turkey hunting in MO, and never killed one. I hadnt been back in 14 years to hunt, so I was going to shoot the first gobbler that walked up. It turned out to be an awesome hunt, and I was quite surprised when a jake appeared, but I wasnt too surprised as it took me all of about 3 seconds to lay the hammer down. I did pass up four more jakes that week and ended the trip with a gorgeous 3 year old northern MO longbeard.

[archery1]

just started hunting turkey last year.. i had a jake in the scope the first day but didnt pull the trigger.. just thought that i could get a mature one.. well that didnt happen. work schedule and so on. didnt tag one at all. so maybe i should've ? well i dont no .. i kinda thought it was  like shootin a spike buck.. but to each their own. i have no problem with people shootin them. like someone just asid. shootin a jake...well that means more mature birds for me ?

[OntarioGobbler]

you know the thing I love about turkey hunters versus deer hunters is the appreciation for the game far more than the trophy at the end of the hunt. No split G2's, droptines, heavy mass, kicker points to amaze at. Let's be honest, for the most part turkeys look the same. We are talking a few shorter feathers and 1/8's of inches on spurs all round.

Now I love big sharp hooks as much as the next guy but what is it that makes us want to dust that old gobbler (and I don't mean our admin)? It's the satisfaction of playing the game against the toughest oppenent we can and winning the game. period. That's why guys like to highlight private versus public land birds all the time. Someone already referenced this point. I mean if you go toe -toe with an old wily gobbler all season long and after finally killing him find he's spurless do you wish you could of tagged another bird? A true turkey hunter doesn't worry about that IMO.

So my point is jakes can sometimes play as fun a game as the next bird. 25 kills I have 3 jakes and every one of them I don't regret. The first was my first "foreign" bird. Travelled a long way and after what I went thru to get him in front of me I didn't hesitate. The second I actually sat there watching it for a good 5 seconds after my buddy killed his bird. He had travelled a long way and it was our first hunt together. The opportunity for a double with him was far more important than the length of a spur.

Population issues are different thing. Population management might be a reason to let your area get more mature gobblers in the flock. They are more likely to survive winters, predators etc.

[BrowningGuy88]

My rule with jakes is:

If he struts, shoot him. If he gobbles, shoot him. If he walks up like a hen with a beard he lives another day.

Daman

[mmusso]

If he plays the game, I would have no problem shooting a jake.

Last year I had one of the best hunts I've ever been on, with one of my best friends (another OG member who will remain nameless), jake-mobile, and a jake. We sat down together with jake-mobile about 15 yards in front of us, and I started calling. Not even 20min. later, the jake popped up over a rise in the field. He looked our way and sprinted across the wide open pasture straight to jake-mobile, blew up, and immediately started strutting circles around the decoy. Then he started kicking jake-mobile in the face repeatedly with each pass.

After this went on for a minute or two right in fornt of us, the conversation against the trees then went like this:
Nameless: Is it a jake?
Me: Yes
-The kicking in the face continues...-
Me: I'm shooting him, I can't stand this
Nameless: No, don't shoot
Me: Dude, he's tearing up my decoy
Nameless: Your decoy's fine. Don't shoot
Me: If he gobbles, I'm shooting him (Nameless still claims to not have heard this)
- I cutt as loud and fast as possible, the jake gobbles, I click my safety off, and Nameless rolls him mid-gobble...-
Me: Really? What happened to don't shoot?
Nameless: What? He gobbled...

Then Nameless went into the whole "I can't believe I shot a jake, you can't tell anybody" thing, and to this day I have not told anyone.

I didn't say this to call Nameless out, or to judge anyone else's decision to shoot or pass, but the "it's just a jake" or "why would you shoot a young buck" attitude is ruining hunting. If it gets your heart racing, you want to shoot it and it's legal, then blast away. At the same time, you can't shoot everything that walks and then complain about not having enough mature animals to hunt next year. I would pay a lot of money to have a hunt like that again and to shoot that bird. I have never shot a jake to this day and have had multiple opportunities were I just didn't want to, but if I have another hunt like that one where he acts like a big boy, he's getting shot like a big boy...
Sorry to rant, but this bothers me.

[Rio Fan]

I shot some jakes when I was learning how to turkey hunt, but I only shoot long beards anymore.  However, I don't have a problem with others shooting jakes.

[magicman]

I have no problem with taking jakes.

[Basser69]

I do not shoot jakes but I will let the kids kill em in a heart beat. Do I care if anyone else kills one, no they eat great. Just my 2 cents

[Beretta686]

Gobble like a big turkey.......... die like a big turkey!!!!!!!

I don't go out and just shoot them, but have pulled the trigger several times when I thought it was a big turkey

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[neal]

You buy the tag you do what you want with it as long as it's legal, it is none of my business as long as your having a good time!