Passing on Jakes?

[it flies it dies]

Just kinda curious, if you were hunting your own private land and a small jake comes into your decoys and presents a perfect shot would you A) squeeze the trigger or B) let him go and hope to get him when he's bigger.

[shaftnem]

Depends on hard I've been hunting. If I've already taken a bird or two, no. If I've been going hard for several days or weeks, with no luck, I'd take it and be proud of it. If it's early season and I really haven't given it much of a chance,I'd probaly pass. Just depends.

[huntnma]

i'd prefer to let him grow, but if season is almost over, i would have to take him.......

[mauser06]

i let them walk..public land or not.....i only took 2 longbeards in my life...2yrs in a row....last year i let myself hunt ONE monster longbeard...and never killed him...didnt have a jake come in late in the season......but i still think id let him walk.....im just more after long thick beards and sharp spurs.....but ive been known to get trigger happy on other game....so i wont say id NEVER kill a jake.....and if one came in and didnt strut and had a beard that wasnt sticking straight out id more then likely flatten him.....but them little stubby beards that stick straight out and its early in the season id more then likely let him walk.......you can tell i dont make my mind up till the shot is presented lol....all depends....if i feel froggy i just might leap.......im young and only got 2 spring birds to my name....so who knows lol

[rybohunter]

Depends on a lot of things. How confident I am in getting a longbeard in range at a later time? Do I have my gun or bow? Is it the last couple days of the season? Did I have to work hard just to get this one in?

[JLmoore1956]

For me personally, probably would shoot. The way I look at it is I can't eat spurs, beard and a fan! But again it is just my opinion and what I would do......... [8D]

[mouthcaller]

I let Jakes walk, especially on private land where you have a chance to let him become a mature bird. I no longer get a thrill out of killing jakes, so why do it. That's just me - I find no fault with someone else if they want to take them.

[go bull dawgs]

depends how big is the beard? if it has a fairly ok beard than yea but id only like 3 inches no i would wait

[OhiobowHunter56]

ifi knew of a big gobbler around my area then i would have to pass on the jakes and try to bag the gobbler... maybe pick off a jake torward the end of season...

[Kybuckhunter]

Wouldn't shoot. Jakes are not as much of a challenge and they are next years long beards. A turkey has a hard enough time living until his second birth day so I willlet him walk ifhe comes in.