So, what’s your view on taking jakes?
Does your blogger shoot jakes? You bet I do! I’ll shoot one of those round-spurred, short-bearded male versions of Meleagris gallopavo, with his pointed wingtip primaries and four middle tail feathers extending skyward, typically longer than the rest. I will normally bag a jake for my first bird or perhaps my last bird of the spring season.
One thing I love about jakes is that they continue to gobble quite well late in the season as pecking orders in flocks continue to change place. Oh, and did I mention those young male wild turkeys are so tender and succulent to eat? Fresh, pan-fried slices of jake turkey breast are favorites of mine!
But, let’s dig a bit deeper into the issue of taking jakes.
You may be wondering if there are biological ramifications to a flock or flocks of wild turkeys in an area if hunters are shooting jakes. Still other hunters are curious if harvesting jakes will ruin the chances of seeing many 2-plus year old adult gobblers the following spring if that is done.
I put those queries to Dr. Jeffrey Lusk, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s Upland Game Program Manager and our wild turkey biology expert.
“There are no biological reasons to not shoot a jake,” he tells me.
“Mother Nature creates a surplus of male wild turkeys, the jakes are not effective at breeding, turkeys move around a great deal and natural mortality takes more jakes than hunters do” emphasized Lusk. “From a biological standpoint, if we thought that spring wild turkey hunters should be restricted from shooting young male wild turkeys during the spring season, we would do so, but that is not case.”
“Just look at our harvest data from last spring when hunters harvested more adult toms than jakes,” says Lusk.
“There are a lot of young male wild turkeys that were not harvested that could have been,” he added. “In addition,
Lusk continues: “When managing the wild turkey, coupled with harvest data, research overwhelming shows that you can remove a good portion of jakes and still have a healthy turkey population with plenty of gobblers for ensuing years.”
The main limiting factors on wild turkey populations, he points out, include cold, wet spring weather, tough winters, and changes in habitat quantity and quality.
Here is what other hunting, wildlife and outdoor education professionals have to say about taking jakes in the spring:
Douglas Herman, champion turkey caller, custom nail turkey call maker and Nebraska wild turkey hunting guide: “At the hunting lodge I prefer clients don’t (harvest a jake) unless it’s a kid, then it’s fair game. But, if a jake comes in gobbling to the call and he is strutting, then I will certainly treat him like a gobbler. The goal of turkey hunting is to tote a legal turkey out of the woods. The only thing I brag about is how good they taste.”
Rich Wiese, custom slate call turkey maker and avid wild turkey hunter: “My thoughts are, yes, it’s okay to shoot a jake. I’ve shot jakes when I was first starting to hunt turkeys in Nebraska. I choose now to shoot mature toms but if a kid or a first-time turkey hunter has a jake in front of them, I say take him! Why not? Get that first bird out of the way, make memories, and build up from there.”
Christy Christiansen, Outdoor Education Specialist at the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: “I am not a turkey snob and would not hesitate to take a jake!”
Jim Zumbo who holds degrees in forestry and wildlife biology, and is a popular firearms and hunting commentator and writer: “I’m lucky enough to have taken the World Slam (Harvested all U.S. wild turkey subspecies — Eastern, Osceola or Florida, Rio Grande, Gould’s and Merriam’s plus the Ocellated wild turkey — found in Mexico and Central America), and I normally hunt several states every year. I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve taken home some jakes. To heck with the social implications among my hunting buddies!”
Brian Lovett, well-respected, freelance writer and editor in the outdoor industry for many years and one of North America’s foremost experts on wild turkey hunting: “I typically do not (take jakes) Greg, but only because I’ve been blessed to turkey hunt quite a bit throughout the country. There is no biological reason to pass up jakes, as any harvest of young males is not additive mortality. I always tell folks that any legal turkey is a great trophy.”
Bruce Ingram of the National Wild Turkey Federation: “Regardless of the reason, if a jake is taken legally and the hunter is appreciative of the harvest, many believe it is a good take. Besides, the best way to gain the knowledge of how to kill a turkey is to kill one.”
Susie Hintz Bliss, ardent spring wild turkey hunter and Nebraska Game and Parks Commission staffer at Schramm Park State Recreation Area: “The jakes are sure fun to watch in the spring. I would take a jake. I kind of compare it to taking a white-tailed deer doe during the deer hunting seasons. Like the does, the jakes are very tasty.”
