I'm surprised people can consistently call jakes up on purpose. I've had them show up. I've had them follow me around. I've called one near and walked over to look at it. Calling them to a youngster's gun on purpose, that's been pretty iffy. Gobblers are a surer bet.

I believe a lot of gobblers got an education on hunters when they were jakes by watching hunters trying to call up gobblers. They skulk around looking. They stand on a road or ridge listening to you coming. They are conditioned to ignore calls and look for hunters when they don't.

Not sure what it’s about now but it started out as a way to over complicate turkey hunting

The original post was about behavior and plumage and what others see. Didn't make it ten post before it went sideways as people with no observations to offer made it about themselves.

Of course if people stayed on topic, threads would be five posts long and much less entertaining. So, there's that.

Kinda like how after shooting doves for a while you don’t get them confused with every other bird that flies over

I would guess you are being generous. Probably more like 9 or 10 out of 10!

The "if I am ignorant, everyone else must be also" egocentric fallacy rears its head again.

Full fan gobbling turkey is dead.

I agree with PCP on the color of their beard tells a story about how old they are. Also the size/color of their head and some of the really old birds will have extra scaly looking legs from what I’ve seen but who knows

If I think he ain't a jake, I'm killing him. Respect to you guys that only kill gobbling, strutting turkeys.

I'm struck by how many jakes people call in. I've turkey hunted since the late 80's, killed tons and tons of birds, and virtually cannot remember calling in a jake, and have never killed one unknowingly in the Spring. Now when we were young boys we graveyarded them fools in the Fall, but heck nothing was safe back then (and it was uncommon to get a chance at a longbeard in the Fall). We'd bust them up and call 'em back, and jakes and hens was about all that ever came in, you didn't bust up and call back longbeards.

Maybe it's how different we hunt? 99.9999% of my hunting since the 80s has been mountainous Nat'l Forest birds, and I don't "deer hunt" turkeys....if he ain't gobbling (like a grown turkey), I'm not even going to that turkey. But then again, I almost never hear jakes gobbling either. And in all those years, I cannot remember one hunt where a jake came in. I feel like if you're hunting private land with lots of food plots, and/or just sitting up on a field and waiting (deer hunting turkeys), then you'd probably encounter jakes more commonly. But in them mountains, if he's telling the news, it's a longbeard. I guess my point is, by default due to the way I hunt, I'm never even going to a turkey that isn't already identified as a mature gobbler.

Kinda just an odd topic, because y'all talk like it's commonplace.

Ikillbux ,,,, was pretty common here to call up jakes . Course I ain't hunted them in a few years .

Few of them gobble pretty damn good . Some strut too

I don't have a problem tell jake from tom. I hunt them close up . I never see the turkey till he's 30 or so yards away at times its closer

It sounds like you just called Mr. Turkey an ignorant egocentric.

Maybe you could give Michael Jordan a lesson in how to shoot a jump shot while you are at it.