Dave Richey OUTDOORS

It's true that the dream of most turkey hunters when their season opens  is to call in and kill a ground-dragging longbeard gobbler. Most hunters want to see that huge bird come waddling in, its beard swinging from side to side and bobbing up and down with every cautious step, and it's what we hope for but what seldom happens to us.

Truth be told, many hunters will hunt for a majestic gobbler for a day or two, and then tiring of getting up long before sunrise, they wind up shooting the first bearded bird they see.

Is this right or wrong? From a biological point of view, it doesn't seem to hurt the turkey population one bit to shoot jakes. They do very little breeding of hens, but the first unwary jake that tries to top a hen will be thoroughly thrashed by a Boss Gobbler. And that's not a pretty sight.

Some hunters believe theåre is a stigma attached to the shooting of a jake. It's as if the killing of a jake is considered a bad thing like the shooting of a a doe used to be before the Age of Enlightenment, and a few clueless turkey hunters who believe that also believe that shooting does or cow elk is poor management. In fact, with deer the reverse happens to be true.

A small jake and hen decoy. Shoot-don't-shoot?

The truth is that there are plenty of jake birds when the season opens barring a horrific winter with several ice storms. We didn't have a serious winter during 2009-2010 winter, and I've seen far more jakes this year than adult gobblers.

It's basically true from year to year. Jakes are eager to come to most hen calls providing the big guy isn't nearby. They are precocious birds, ready to breed hens if they will hold still, and the hunter who has never shot a gobbler — or very few of them — will often take a jake at the end of the first or second day.

Make no mistake about it: turkey hunting is hard work. The hours are uncommonly long, and it doesn't take many days to get beat up and the body becomes so far out of kilter, that only shooting a jake, will help end the misery of insufficient sleep.

Turkey hunting can turn you into a zombie.

I know a large number of turkey hunters who move from state to state, hunting birds every day for nearly two months, and the only way the human body can take such punishment is to take a two-hour nap every day. Even at that, most of these guys act and look like zombies on a three-day drunk after two weeks of steady hunting.

I've taken many hunters out, and have put many of them into big longbeards, but I've also had many who would settle for a jake before the first day ended. This hard work business doesn't mean much if a guy can call up a sharp-spurred gobbler at dawn of the first morning. They go back and hop into bed, knowing that hunting would have become ever tougher on the body as time went on.

Have I shot a jake? Yes, and in fact I've shot two or three such birds over my career. It often happens during the third hunt in Area K when hordes of hunters have been pounding the longbeards for two weeks. The third season opens, the birds are very spooky, and there are times when it's impossible to find a big solitary gobbler anywhere.

We are down near the end of the season, and are seeing more mushroom pickers and mosquitoes than turkeys, and finally, wore down and weary, we get an answer to our forlorn yelps. We can tell by the gobble that it is not an adult bird, but in saunters a jake, all big and proud of himself.

He comes quickly, or slowly as the case may be, and steps out in front of us at 25 yards. We study the beard, wish it was seven inches longer than it is, and then drop the firing pin on a magnum load of No. 5 copper-plated shot.

If the hunt has been arduous, and the turkeys are widely scattered and not gobbling, that three- or four-inch bearded bird is a genuine trophy. It is far better to eat than a bird with a 10-inch beard and inch-long spurs, but we've reached a decision and acted on it.

A jake holding an apple eyes a hen decoy.

So, as is true with shooting antlerless deer in the fall, shooting a jake bird is a matter of choice. It doesn't hurt the population, and in fact, helps reduce bird numbers slightly. It provides wonderful hunting opportunities, and some great eating, and for many sportsmen it is a wise decision.

None of us know when or if we will make that decision. Some hunters refuse to take a jake, and it is up to them. But, as the human body gets weary and hunting becomes very difficult, it's always good advice to listen to the old-time turkey hunters when they advise:

Don't make the mistake: take the jake.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors