Jakes?

[hawglips]

Yeah, I know but the mark of a common Jake is a blurp gobble at best; you know what I mean as well as every turkey hunter on the forum.

There is a time and a place for everything, including shooting a jake. I'll let it walk, or shoot it, depending on the situation.

I've heard a rio jake with a gobble absolutley indistinguishable from that of a mature tom. And I've heard another hunter who killed a rio jake after an exciting all morning hunt with several different set-ups, in which he never saw the bird till it stuck its head up. He shot him because he "knew" it was a tom, but was dejected to see the shortbeard laying there when he went to pick him up. But he says it was one of the best hunts ever, where he had to dig deep in his substantial bag of tricks, plus one trick he'd never tried before, tom or not.

I shot a jake rio once on the last day of a hard-to-draw permit hunt in Utah, after seeing 30+ different jakes, and NO toms .

I also shot one on the last day of a permit draw public land hunt in NC last year.

I almost always let them walk, though sometimes, a jake is good! With me, its more about the hunt than it is about the trophy.

Hal

 

[discounthunter]

my first was a jake ,partly because lack of knowlegde,but he was struttin' like a big boy ,so the rest is history.i pass on them now.

 

[CAL]

I don't shoot them.We treat them as a hen also.

 

[fulldraw74]

Private land-no
Public land-BANG!

I agree....

 

[spraggins]

biologists have proven that harvesting jakes doesn't really make that much difference in next yrs gobblers. half of them won't make it another yr, anyway. so ,hate to burst bubbles, but all the ones you let walk won't make it to next yr. w/ that said, i don't believe in shooting them on a regular basis. the hatches have been poor for several yrs now, so i really think that all of us turkey hunters should pull together and conserve these birds. i vow not to shoot jakes until the populations recover...if they do.also, i think wma hunters should be restricted to hunting until noon, so the birds can get some relief.

 

[Swampdemon]

I don't shoot jakes, or at least not on purpose. I got to KY every year and hunt for 4 days and in that Mtn. terrain the birds alot of times will periscoppe their head up and all you can see is from the waddles up. Twice now a bird that had a full gobble periscoped up his head and upon recovery it turned out to be a jake.

Other than in that situation I choose to pass. I agree it is like shooting a hen w/ a beard. However if others choose to that is their business. I like longbeards and mature bucks, just my style.

 

[cskdevildog]

If I get a chance to hunt this year you can best believe I'll take a jake. Thats because I'll probably be hunting public land.

 

[short stop]

like calling up a hungry dog while waving a steak . Killing a jake is like shootin fish in a barrel .Just throw in some ''kee kees '' in with some hen yelps -sounding like a flock of young birds and they'll coma runnin. I havent shot one in yrs --tooo easy , I bet I call 10 or 15 a yr up in range of my 20 and all get the free pass .I hunt the big birds -- no objections if I am with some one and they dust one . A good pat on the back and congradulations on a good hunt .

 

[beginnersluck]

I've only shot mature birds. Sorta like deer hunting. If its a 4 point this year wait till next...if it's just a 6, wait another year...you get the idea. There have been years that I passed on plenty of jakes and got outsmarted by gobblers and didn't shoot a thing...which is ok for me!

 

[spraggins]

ain't too many jakes in the woods these days, because most of the s.e. has had poor hatches for the past several yrs. it is a wise investment for a club or lease to let them walk, at least until we get a few good hatches. i don't normally shoot jakes, but i did last yr, on the last evening of the season, w/ a bow. there was seven of them, and they gobbled like crazy! i probably shouldn't have, but he was delicious. bow turkeys are few and far between, and i'll take them when i can. i haven't shot a jake ,other than that one, in at least 15 yrs. i have read that several biologists thought that shooting a few jakes didn't have much bearing on the pop. shooting anything has a immediate effect on the immediate pop. simple math.

 

[Hawg]

My opinion is

they taste good.