this sat i was working on a couple of longbeards that were in the field with some hens but as i was working them in a jake came up from behind me and ruined my chances of workin those birds the rest of the way in. i later (about 11 oclock) called that jake back in while i was tring to bring those gobblers back in.

my question is are jakes easier to call in then a longbeard or can you tell a difference in why he came in so fast as oppose to those gobblers. besides the fact that they were with some hens.

also who will settle with shooting a jake or do you hold out and wait for a longbeard? this was my first turkey hunt so i couldn' t decide to shoot him or not -- i decided to pass, but i guess i can work on him another day.

are these birds patternable or do they just show up sporadically?

i know these are amature questions but i am still trying to figure this thing out!![:-]

im my humble opinion,jakes are a lot easer to call in than long beards.they have a lot less experences the the older birds.

yes you can pattern those birds,just watch where they came from and where they went.they will be in the general area.
Go back there and look and listen,make a setup and work.

good luck ![:-]

Jakes are often easier to call than longbeards. They have the desire but the longbeards usually have the ladies. So if they think there is a single girl around they often run right in. My first bird was a Jake. Since then I have held out. If you are close to some good birds the decision is yours.

All of my turkeys so far have been longbeards but I would have taken a jake for my first one.Now I will hold out for a longbeard.

I think the other questions are answered but on the issue of shooting Jake, I have only shot long beards but we have a two bird limit and I would take a Jake with my first tag (if one presented himself) and then hold out for a long beard with the second.

Yes jakes are much easier to call in because they do not have any hens.

I' ve passed on all jakes but have been lucky enough to have long beards come my way by the 2nd or 3rd hunt. I could see myself taking a jake on the last day I could hunt for sure.

As an example, I' m on a streak of 10 jakes called in to my decoys on two bow and 1 gun hunt. I' ll shoot one if I don' t get a tom Friday morning.

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I would and did take a Jake for my first,but now that I' ve gotten blood on my hands I tend to try and hold out,but in WA. we can get three birds so I' d probably get an itchy trigger finger if a jake pops his head in the way

I' ve only taken one jake since I' ve been turkey huntin. I just decided to limit myself to longbeards , which is the reason I' ve only taken 12 longbeards.
but, I' ll shoot a jake with a bow in a heart beat.
since Ar started the one jake rule, I may just decide to start takin a jake now and then with my gun. depends on how long his beard is. if it looks over 5" I' d probly take him.