I stopped killing jakes years ago and it has helped me produce larger Tomsfor the future. I kow that most of the mature gobblers i harvest now on my dads farm were jakes I could have wacked when they were babies. It's personally up to you. I can only speak for myself, but don't feel bad about not getting a turkey this year....those jake will be adult breeders next season and after. I try to only shoot 3 year olds now, I scout hard all year and every year, look at their spurs and pecking order to gauge how old birds are in that area. i usually can tell by their gobble tone and face/head characteristics. Tail and body characteristics are slightly diff on 2yr olds from 3/4 year olds. It's alot of fun. Jakes are the stupidist birds in the woods...kinda like a 1.5 year old buck in the rut season. Really no challenge. A jake is a great bird for kids getting into hunting though.