Yeah your buddy killed a gobbler with beard rot. Jake’s aren’t going to have 1 inch spurs. Most two year olds don’t have 1 inch spurs.


Years ago I was in Nebraska with another member from here. We got on a bird and had to make a move on him using a terrain feature. There was a couple of mule deer trails that split as we were going up the hill and I went right and he went left. When I broke the top of the hill to peek over I had walked right up on him and he was like 3 feet from me. He immediately turned his back to me and started fast walking away. I raised my gun and my buddy yelled “Jake”. I immediately unshouldered the gun and looked at the turkey and thought “there’s no way”. I shouldered my gun again and he starts yelling “no shooter” again. I pulled the trigger. I walked out to the bird and my buddy walked up and expressed disbelief that I’d blow a tag on a jake. I rolled him over and he had a 3 inch beard that was attached to a 24 lb body that sported the prettiest set of 1 5/8 hooks you ever laid eyes on.

He asked me how I knew and I told him there was no way a jake was that big with a head as big as a softball.

"Some men are mere hunters; others are turkey hunters."

-- Archibald Rutledge