Would You Take The Spring Jake?

[gregtpal]

I will if I feel like it on any given day.  Nothing wrong with shooting or passing.

[Greybeard]

Shot 2 Jakes about thirty years ago with the shotgun, PA & NJ same day.  And a Tom around 5 years ago with the crossbow in PA.  That was enough hunting those birds for me.  Don't even see them around often enough to warrant hunting any of them or pay the ridiculous prices with the overly restrictive segments in NJ.

Wife gets one for free every year already packaged and I threw out 2 of them this year that were in the freezer too long

Edited March 10 by Greybeard

[fab]

Not shot a jake in 20 years   Make for some cool video.   
 

nj public  Land does have ppl.   
 

Usually drive around till I have a good distance between myself n the next truck 

 

Zone 1 and some of 2 are very hard to run and gun.  U come into ppl.  
 

 
 

 

[Rjtfd]

They make for great video. These two molested my decoy for 30 minutes. 

[JHbowhunter]

can't eat the beards and spurs!

[bushden]

I want Turkey burgers in the freezer all year and I cannot tell the difference in taste between Toms and Jakes.

[vdep217]

There is no reason other than wanting to kill a bigger bird to not kill a Jake. I'll see if I can find it but I I was reading somthing and 1.  Killing Jake or Gobbler has little to no impact on breeding or population as breeding is almost done by the time we are in the woods.  And 2 the life expectancy of a turkey is only 3 to 5 years so there's a good chance that that Jake will not be around next year weather u decide to pull trigger or not

Edited March 10 by vdep217

[Devil Horns]

It’s a game time decision. Some days I will let Jakes walk and others days they get a face full of 5’s. 

[Rjtfd]

6 minutes ago, vdep217 said:

There is no reason other than wanting to kill a bigger bird to not kill a Jake. I'll see if I can find it but I I was reading somthing and 1.  Killing Jake or Gobbler has little to no impact on breeding or population as breeding is almost done by the time we are in the woods.  And 2 the life expectancy of a turkey is only 3 to 5 years so there's a good chance that that Jake will not be around next year weather u decide to pull trigger or not

I agree but to me killing a mature Tom is much harder than shooting a jake. It’s all about the hunt to me. Same reason I have no desire to shooting 12ga TSS at a bird that’s 50 plus yards away. 

[vdep217]

1 minute ago, Rjtfd said:

I agree but to me killing a mature Tom is much harder than shooting a jake. It’s all about the hunt to me. Same reason I have no desire to shooting 12ga TSS at a bird that’s 50 plus yards away. 

I agree like I said it depends on hunt..  I've let longbeards go because they run right in..

[Merkel]

I haven’t / wouldn’t shoot a jake. Would rather wait another year or two for the opportunity at a wily Tom.  But it’s legal so have at it. 

[Fred Flintstone]

2 hours ago, JHbowhunter said:

can't eat the beards and spurs!

A Jake will have Thighs that are more Tender as well. Gobblers Thighs- the muscles are much more fibrous.  A Jake is a second choice for me-- but Yeah-- real good eating!

[Swamprat]

I'm an amateur at best with turkeys. 

My first turkey on my own was a jake(I didn't start hunting them til 2010, I was 36. Lol). 

Another time I had a bird play a cat and mouse game with me all morning. When he finally showed and he was a "5 bearded 2 year old....I shot him in the face. 

Another time it was d week. High 80s. Getting eatin alive by bugs. Called it quits at 11am . Walking back to the truck and 2 Jake's are beating the shit out of each other ON the trail leading to my truck. Yep...I shot one. Lol. 

[Lunatic]

2 minutes ago, Swamprat said:

I'm an amateur at best with turkeys. 

My first turkey on my own was a jake(I didn't start hunting them til 2010, I was 36. Lol). 

Another time I had a bird play a cat and mouse game with me all morning. When he finally showed and he was a "5 bearded 2 year old....I shot him in the face. 

Another time it was d week. High 80s. Getting eatin alive by bugs. Called it quits at 11am . Walking back to the truck and 2 Jake's are beating the shit out of each other ON the trail leading to my truck. Yep...I shot one. Lol. 

Good for you!!

[Turkeyslayer]

3 hours ago, vdep217 said:

There is no reason other than wanting to kill a bigger bird to not kill a Jake. I'll see if I can find it but I I was reading somthing and 1.  Killing Jake or Gobbler has little to no impact on breeding or population as breeding is almost done by the time we are in the woods.  And 2 the life expectancy of a turkey is only 3 to 5 years so there's a good chance that that Jake will not be around next year weather u decide to pull trigger or not

that’s the same aspect as i’m gonna shoot the spike because the probability is my neighbor will shoot it