Should I shoot a jake...

[Poor redneck]

To me "Trophy" has more to do with the hunt and less to do with the maturity of the critter. When I think of my "Trophies" I think more of the hunt I had that led up to getting that critter. Now as far as you shooting a jake, I can't answer that for you. But I will say this, For a young man to take on this sport and have two hunts under his belt and to top it off, doing this solo on public land. In my mind brother you will be proud of that first jake for many years to come, and I don't know you, but I will be very proud of you too. I am not telling you to shoot a jake if that is not what you want, but like I said, to me "trophy" has more to do with the hunt than the critter.

 

[catman529]

Thanks and yes, I have made up my mind now after a weekend of long hunting hours that I will take the first legal bird, jake, bearded hen, gobbler, whatever. I missed two opportunites on opening morning, had jakes come in twice in a row but got busted before I could get the gun up. Even being so small and with a 1 inch beard I don't care, I will kill whatever bearded bird I can get the bead on and the meat will still be good. After my first I might try and focus more on the longbeards but for now my focus is to get one down.

Saw a lot of birds this past weekend besides just the jakes. I only saw hens yesterday but called one straight in to 5 yards and was disappointed it was only a hen. Better luck next time and now I know where to always find them roosting and if I can get out there during the week maybe I won't have any company so nobody else will be calling the same birds or walking around bumping them.