Jakes

[Food Plot 101]

The game is much more fun than the kill, although I'm not ready to bowhunt for them just yet, lol.

 

[Mike Belt]

Not a turkey killing machine here but I've killed a few. When I call a bird up I can usually tell before I see him he's a jake and for sure after I see him. They're fun to watch but I haven't been shooting them. If a longbeard comes in I don't ever recall trying to see his spurs and I don't think you could anyway. Longbeard = Boom!

 

[AT Hiker]

Here's how I look at it:

A jake is like a button buck;
A 2-yr-old young tom is akin to a 2 1/2-yr-old buck;
A 3-yr-old Tom is getting there, more like a 3 1/2-yr-old buck.

Why would anyone want to shoot anything less than a mature Tom?

If only 3.5 yr old whitetail were as numerous and as easy to kill as a 3 yr old turkey (not saying any turkey is easy to kill but comparatively they are a lot easier than a old deer).

And for the record, I don't think there is a turkey snob alive that gets on a gobbling bird, calls him in, watches him strut, listens to him gobble, then at 30 yards, decides "I'm not going to shoot him, he looks like a 2 year old". Not buying it.

I do it and will continue to do it, but I think it has little to do with age of the bird for me. If I am alone and hunting private ground there is a good chance I will let him continue on his way. If it has been a tough year or my hunting is limited, I am dropping the hammer. Public land, prob will kill him too.

Turkey hunting for me is truly a group experience, if I can share it with someone it completes the "circle" if you will. Its truly a game of cat and mouse, discussing the next move with your hunting partner, coming up with excuses and theories why the birds didnt gobble or work today, etc. On the other hand, wild turkey is a treat...likely one of my favorite wild games to eat, with that said regardless if its a jake or mature Tom he is dead if I am in meat hunting mode. I compare it to catfishing, most days I want to catch big fish. You know, the kind that bend your pole in half. When I am wanting to eat them, I could care less...I prefer the smaller ones but when my cooler is full of legal fish I going home.