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anti jake folks

RNDeLoach said:
I really dont see how you can accidentally kill a jake. My father always taught me that you are supposed to see a visible beard before you shoot. The spring turkey guide also says you must see a visible beard before you shoot. If you follow that then you wont accidentally kill a jake. If it is too thick to see a beard then you probably dont need to be taking the shot. As far as what I do with the meat I generally clean it and give it to the landowners as a good gesture. They greatly appreciate that. Now I see no problem if you want to get a jake for a first time hunter. There is nothing wrong with that but hunting is not all about the numbers and how many you put on the table. I love watching jakes just feed on bugs and peck around with the hens. This is just my .02. Different strokes for different folks.
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Ditto. Shooting a jake should never be a "mistake".

I always wonder what people are thinking when they post "All I could see was his head when I shot". The regs clearly state that a bird must have a visible beard.

On more than one occasion I have observed mature gobblers (full fans and good spurs) at close range that had no visible beard. This was likely caused by beard rot. I had to let these birds walk on by.

If one of you "head shooters" kills one that doesn't have a beard, what will you do?
 
I was 100% sure about the jake I shot this year. I picked him out of four others since he was the biggest one. He was sporting a 3-7/8" beard where the rest of them might have had 2-1/2"-3". :D
 
Yep, I've never killed a jake by mistake either. They have all been on purpose :D !

I agree 100% about seeing the beard. The purpose of that regulation is safety. If you can see a turkey and its beard, that should take out the chance of an "accidental" shooting bu shooting at a color.

captain hook said:
So does security in numbers disappear when we as hunters whack into jake groups and scatter them?
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You just said they were already alone, so it shouldn't make a difference :D .
 
You guys can pass on a big red head gobbling if you want to. But the accident I had is one that I can live with. Later on in the season this year the very same thing happen to me, two birds gobbling like crazy. However one sounded jakey the other didnt. But when they came in they where both jakes. They got a pass. I dont hunt jakes but i dont want a law to protect them. A total of six jakes got a pass from me this season. You get a bird within 10 yards gobbling, struting, druming, and you let him pass because you cant see a beard? My best bird this year was killed in a hay field over waist high. With in 10 yards doing all the above. Thinking back , I did not see a beard. But im glad I did not give him a pass.
 
turkeyhunter said:
You get a bird within 10 yards gobbling, struting, druming, and you let him pass because you cant see a beard?
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Yes, twice in the the last few years as a matter of fact. That is only because they didn't have beards.

So you are say that you would have shot these birds had it been you? Would you have checked them in?
 
Im just saying, I really dont focus on the beard, im looking for the red head to pop , then I try to focus my sight right on the middle neck. If that happens I will tag the bird in.If I show the game warden a mature gobbler with a full fan that weighs 20lbs. And receive a ticket, I guess I will live with.
 
RS thanks for bringing that up.
First thought that popped into my mind was, if a person killed a jake by accident, how did they figure it was a legal bird to begin with?
 
RNDeLoach said:
I really dont see how you can accidentally kill a jake. My father always taught me that you are supposed to see a visible beard before you shoot. The spring turkey guide also says you must see a visible beard before you shoot. If you follow that then you wont accidentally kill a jake. If it is too thick to see a beard then you probably dont need to be taking the shot. As far as what I do with the meat I generally clean it and give it to the landowners as a good gesture. They greatly appreciate that. Now I see no problem if you want to get a jake for a first time hunter. There is nothing wrong with that but hunting is not all about the numbers and how many you put on the table. I love watching jakes just feed on bugs and peck around with the hens. This is just my .02. Different strokes for different folks.
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RNDeLoach said:
I really dont see how you can accidentally kill a jake. My father always taught me that you are supposed to see a visible beard before you shoot. The spring turkey guide also says you must see a visible beard before you shoot. If you follow that then you wont accidentally kill a jake. If it is too thick to see a beard then you probably dont need to be taking the shot. As far as what I do with the meat I generally clean it and give it to the landowners as a good gesture. They greatly appreciate that. Now I see no problem if you want to get a jake for a first time hunter. There is nothing wrong with that but hunting is not all about the numbers and how many you put on the table. I love watching jakes just feed on bugs and peck around with the hens. This is just my .02. Different strokes for different folks.
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I've never killed one "by accident" and its unlikely that I ever will due to the way that I hunt. But for a run and gun woods hunter, I can certainly understand how it could happen. After all, a gobbler looks like a gobbler regardless of its age, tall, dark and with much more red on its head than any hen, particularly in the early a.m. in thick understory at 35 yards. And I've had jakes gobble their heads off as they came in, and some would take a real expert to tell apart from longbeards(the gobble). I'm sure like many, my son and I have passed on several gobblers because we never could see a beard, even though we were certain that they were gobblers. And you do have a problem with us, as we are as far removed from being "first time hunters" as is possible. We, apparently along with thousands of other Tennessee turkey hunters enjoy turkey hunting without having to prove our prowess to anyone. My room is plastered with mature turkey fans and beards(along with some four inchers with tall tail feathers also), although some of the dumbest turkeys that I have encountered have been longbeards, and some of most challenging birds have been jakes. Hopefully someday you will recognize that the quality of the hunt has little to do with beard or spur length. Good Luck
 
I don't know about you all but I never have tried to eat the beard or the spurs. I turkey hunt and a jake is considered a legal turkey to kill isn't it. Don't get me wrong I love killing long beards and I am fortunate enough to hunt an area where we can pick and choose. I passed on jakes all year but if I am going out to hunt and want to kill a jake I am. They all eat to darn good. Again its all opinion. Its the same with deer hunting. If you kill small bucks every year dont complain about not being able to kill big bucks. If you kill jakes don't complain about not having long beards to kill. Its called management.
 
I agree wingnut. My dad wants me to bring him a jake each season. He tells me all the time you have enough beards and spurs on the wall, kill some turkeys to eat.lol When I tell hunting stories about letting the jakes go he gets mad. I told him to go with me and I will let him shootem.
 
I beg to differ. I guess it has to with tenderness. They do taste the same , but a jake is much more tender. Much easier to cut up also. I cut them in strips the size of my thum.I fry them up, I call it popcorn turkey. Just like I had much rather have a young deer tender loin. A big gobbler is about as good as it gets, but a jake is better to me in the frying pan.
 
I know an oldtimer that I work with. I say oldtimer he can out run, out hunt, out fish most people I know. He is retireing this year. But anyway, he kills 3 long beards each seasons. Gives them to various people family friends what not. He will kill one jake for he and his wife each year to finish the season. Why, he says it is the better bird to eat .
 
captain hook said:
One thing is a guarantee with me, and I am as law abiding as they come. If a mature gobbler is standing in front of me with no beard, he is getting killed, period. I will call the GW myself and let him decide what do with me and my bird.

Hate to be blunt, but in this rugged terrain, often times there is not much time to mull over decisions. Usually it is male bird.....boom. I have only been bit once on the jake thing, but I am sure there are more to come. Maybe if I hunted fields with decoys and a blind it wouldn't ever happen....
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You contradict yourself there a little bit don't you captain hook? How can you say you're "as law abiding as they come" but yet you would totally disregard the law and shoot if a mature bird didn't have a beard?

Let's change species for a moment. Say you're deer hunting in your rugged terrain during buck only season and a fully mature buck walks up (4.5+ years) that has it's antlers broken off 1.5 inches above it's head. Now you know the regs state that antlers have to be 3 inches. Based on your above comment, am I right in saying you would shoot this buck?
 
captain hook said:
Jakes taste the same as longbeards. There is no difference other then available meat on the bird. Not a valid argument for shooting jakes. If you want to shoot a jake, then shoot a jake, but don't try and make it out like they taste better, it just doesn't hold water IMO.
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Not trying to make an argument about which one taste better. I have killed jakes that were bigger then some long beards I can guarantee that. They all eat the same to me. If you want to shoot a jake go for it, kill everyone of them if you want to its not against the law, but dont complain about not being able to kill long beards the next couple of years. The reason people have all these good pics to post is because they probably practice proper management and let the jakes walk. If you want to fill your tag with jakes, great it doesn't make you any less of a hunter then the guy who killed four toms.
 
My neighbor on the south with 311 acres, told me yesterday that the only birds they killed this season were two bearded hens. I have never understood that, other than I suppose, the telling of the tale. These gals lay eggs and raise broods just like any hens, and they killed a bunch of generations of turkeys with two shots. IMO makes the jake/no jake discussion rather meaningless.
 
buckhorn40 said:
captain hook said:
Congrats, but I have to ask how did you know he was 2.5 and not 2 or 3? :)
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I didn't just what a seasoned turkey hunter told me.
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Just FYI buckhorn. Turkeys are whole numbers in age during the Spring harvest, as they are hatched in late Spring. Deer is where you get into halves.
 
Is it Mississippi that has a no jake law? If so I would like to hear from someone that hunts there if it has made any kind of impact on how many more LB's they are hearing/seeing
 

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