1: How do you tell the difference between a jake and a tom? I always thought that it was just that toms strut and gobble and jakes don't, but I was watching a hunting show and this turkey was strutting and gobbling and the guy said he passed on him cause he was a jake.
2: What decoy set ups do you guys use? Last year I borrowed a tom decoy from a friend of mine, but this yearI figured I'd just buy my own. Really don't know what to get though. A jake and a couple hen decoys? or what?
1. A jake has a short beard, hasn't quite made the "curl" downward. A jake also has a "cut off" gobble, most of the time. The center tail feathers, during strut, will be longer than the rest.
2. Most of the time I don't use decoys, but i always carry a jake and a hen. If I find a tom on a hill and can't get to him undetected, I'll put them out and call the tom downhill. They say you can't call em downhill but I have on more than one occasion.
1. Don't totally go by the beard alone...some mature toms can have short beards for whatever variable reasons. A sure tell sign the the fan of a tom vs a jake. Like mentioned above, a jake will have an uneven fan with the middle feathers being longer. Both toms and jakes will gobble and a few seasons you'll be able to tell the difference.
2. If you can only purchase or take one, get a hen, afterall, that's what the gobblers want. If you can get two, get a hen and a jake.
1. Don't totally go by the beard alone...some mature toms can have short beards for whatever variable reasons. A sure tell sign the the fan of a tom vs a jake. Like mentioned above, a jake will have an uneven fan with the middle feathers being longer. Both toms and jakes will gobble and a few seasons you'll be able to tell the difference.
2. If you can only purchase or take one, get a hen, afterall, that's what the gobblers want. If you can get two, get a hen and a jake.
ditto. if you have a clear view of the legs you can also look at the spurs.
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If you can't beat them, join them... then once you lure them into a false sense of security, jump on their back and beat them to a bloody pulp.
I agree to not go by the beard. The first "long beard" I ever killed only had a 6.5'' beard. He was a very old bird that suffered from beard rott.
I also called in a jake a few years back. His beard was one of the thickest I've ever seen and it was about 7'' long, but his fan wasn't near to being a full fan.
1. Strutting - Middle 4 tail feathers longer than the rest.
Beard - typically shorter and usually sticks straight out
Gobble - usually more abbreviated, but I've had jakes gobbling in front ofmeand it was just as full as a mature gobbler.
Appearance - Jakes are "leaner". After you have seen a few you can recognize most jakes by their overall appearance. They look tall and thin compared to a gobbler.
2. Can't help you there - I don't use decoys.
__________________ Captain, Team 1 - The Last Gobble 2009 HuntingNet.com Spring Turkey Contest Champions
The beard and the tail are the best ways to get a quick ID.
But it's not necessarily the 4 center feathers that are longer than the others. It varies. And I have actually seena jake that has even lengthed fan feathers. It depends on when he was hatched, and how fast his mature tail feathers grow in. This past weekend I got good video of two jakes -- one had the two middle tail feathers longer than the rest, and the other had even lengthed feathers all the way around. (Yes, they were both jakes - I promise.)
couple easy questions
