scratching my head

[grizzly]

[:@] TURKEYS[:@] out this morning same thing i got this tom all fired up he would not budge a jake came right in but after making a commitment to let jakes walk this year [ thanks jim ] . this tom gobbled at every thing me, crows, wood peckers so i decided to move up on him he kept gobbleing still woulding move so i backed out and circled above him still no after a little more then a hour he stopped gobbleing i don't know where he went. i can say i've tryed it all this year even decoys . i thinking maybe tag soup is on the menu this spring[:)] wayne

[JPH]

ar

ORIGINAL: grizzly

...a jake came right in but after making a commitment to let jakes walk this year [ thanks jim ] ....

I missed that conversation but I bet it was a good one. I've only killed two jakes in my life but one of them was this season. It's a personal choice and I pass no judgment on a hunter making his/her own decision on the matter. I will offer you something however, that I have used to help me through the process. When I have a jake pass into my sights I remind myself that if I pass the shot, I forfeit my right to complain if I end the season with a tag in my pocket. Most times I think it over and decide that I can live with that but there are times when for whatever reason, I need to cleanly kill a legal turkey.

Either way grizzly, sounds like a fun hunt!

[Cut N Run]

This http://forum.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com/tm.aspx?m=24822 was the thread Grizzly is talking about.
 
Keep after him, Wayne.  It sounds like you have done everything but get him.  Good luck.
 
Jim

[JPH]

ORIGINAL: Cut N Run

This http://forum.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com/tm.aspx?m=24822 was the thread Grizzly is talking about.

Keep after him, Wayne.  It sounds like you have done everything but get him.  Good luck.

Jim

Yikes! Glad I missed that one.

[grizzly]

i shot my fair of jakes over the years and after thinking about what jim said i feel i no longer need to . i will keep at him it has been fun and if i don't get him it's only 4 months to fall season[;)] wayne

[paturkeyhunter29]

He was either at his strutt zone waiting for the hen to come to him or he had hens with him and
they weren't leaving that spot for whatever reason. One thing that has worked for me when
dealing with stubborn gobblers is using a gobble call and a hen call on him. That also works on
those days when it seems like the turkeys don't wanna make a sound. After a real quiet morning
yesterday I did this and suddenly the birds got fired up. I called in a nice tom and 4 jakes. The
jakes ran off the tom and I passed on a shot at the jakes.

[mark hay]

Wayne , you are not alone concerning the head scratchin'. I returned to the roost site this morning , in the dark . If he was there he didn't gobble . One did gobble on the back ridge . I lit out like a track star . Made the ridge , and within 100 yrds of the gobbler . I set up and waited on him to come back to earth . When he did I offered up some leaf scratchin' and faint clucks . Next time he gobbled he's across the ridge top from me . He only gobbled twice from that spot . I waited him out for a bit and then proceeded on up toward the top . Just shy of the top I stopped to listen a bit . As I was looking out across the ridge top a 100 or so away , I see this turkey running . Just that quick I see a strutter coming in behind the runner . Then this second strutter comes running in from the opposite direction . He runs right up in the first strutters face , gobbles hard at him , turns and retreats back the way he came in . He no more than turned to go when I gobbled at them both . Didn't phase either one .
 I stood still in that spot for some time . I eased out the box and made some clucks, purrs , and faint yelps . Then I get to hearing this deep bass. So , being a redhead , I ask myself , ''Is that near or far ?'' Seconds later my question is answered . Here comes this struttin' bird in the backdoor .Spittin'n' drummin' in what could only be termed as rapid succession. I can't see him because he is directly behind me . So I figure , just let him come on . My big mistake was not the fact that I was standing ,,,,but I was not leaning against the tree . He made me and began that miserable low key putt . I turned my head enough to see the beast . I couldn't make out a beard , and the amount of movement required for a shot was truly impractical . So I let him walk .
 All in all,,,it has been a fine morning . I was beginning to be disturbed by the fact that I hadn't heard the spit 'n' drum this season . I ain't disturbed any more .
 
 I have till sunset to get it done . After some refueling and a nap , I'll be back out there .

[eggshell]

I still stand on  my post from the aforementioned thread

[color="#003399"]Back to jake shooting. The number one reason I would let a jake walk is for future seed, they will most likely be around longer. Yet many of them die within the next year, so it's a coin flip on the biological side. I like meat too and an adult bird has way more meat to body weight, but jakes are more tender. As far as trophys, I couldn't plan on killing anything bigger than my best birds now, it would just be chance to do better.  So that relegates me to just turkey hunting, if by chance a greater trophy comes along, fine. To me it's all about the fun and if a hunt was fun I'm satisfied reguardless of bird size or age. When I eat them I actually prefer the jakes and poults as table fair. If a jake and mature bird are standing within gun range the choice is the mature bird. Face it we all like the idea of killing a big bird and making sure our buddies know it.
[/color]
[color="#000000"]Last year I went into the end of the second week of spring season and still had a tag. Six jakes came in right off the roost and I picked out the plumpest one and cut lose....he made a very fine meal! [/color]Now i had already killed 3 long beards all over 22 lbs and was ready to fill my last tag, no remorse or second thoughts before or after. However, i would never suggest anyone compromise on their own standards.  This year I killed 5 long beards and actually did pass up some jakes, but I could see long beards when i did.  I personally would rather have a jake in the freezer than a tag in my pocket.

Here's hoping you get that long beard this afternoon Mark.

[grizzly]

egg i feel i need to respond to your post. i have no problem with shooting jakes. here is my reasoning for let'em walk this year . when i started hunting in the 70's there were a fair number of birds. my first turkey was a jake . then in the 80's and the 90's the numbers were hugh there were turkeys every where and like you said i'ld take a jake over not filling a tag. but lately i notice there dosen't seem to be the number of toms there was say 4 years ago . so when jim was talking about letting the jakes walk and letting them grow up. it got me thinking i've gotten to the point in my hunting where it's not about filling my tags but about the hunt of a big tom. but believe me egg if another hunter were to shoot that jake i would have been the first to slap him on the back and congrads. on a fine bird[:D] wayne

[JPH]

I did not read the whole thread alluded to above but I saw enough to know it had turned ugly. Things like that often do. I'm almost sorry I asked about the decision to shoot a jake in this thread because I don't want this conversation to turn.

My only question is who is what Jim are we referring to? I'd like to look at his posts so that I have a better understanding of why his opinions on the matter.