In Louisiana it is legal to shoot Jakes, the one-year-old gobblers. Some states do not allow this and regulate the harvest with a minimum beard length. The annual harvest of Jakes in the state accounts for about 15 to 20 percent of the annual harvest, several hundred birds. Biologists with LDWF do not feel this is a problem for our turkey population and provides opportunity for hunters.
Many veteran turkey hunters do not shoot Jakes, because they know they are going to get bigger with longer beards and perhaps some trophy spurs. It is like the QDMA Deer Motto — Let them go so they can grow. There is really nothing ethically wrong with shooting a Jake.
Most Jakes are generally not gobbling toms and do not participate in the spring breeding season. There are some that do gobble and generally their gobble is not quite like that of an adult bird, but in the woods some sound pretty good. One year I was hunting in a hardwood drain and had what I thought was an adult tom answering my call. The bird was getting closer but what I thought was a single tom was actually three Jakes that would gobble simultaneously. The Jakes came in and left and I moved to another location and began calling.
Another tom started answering so I hastily made my set-up and waited. The set-up was just off a woods road that I knew the tom was walking on. As the tom moved closer I began to have a strange feeling about the tom and sure enough when it rounded the bend there were three of them. The Jakes were back and so I just watched, yelping at them periodically, and every time they would all gobble together.
If you enjoy eating wild turkey meat and the season is getting late, a Jake will eat just as good as that adult tom!
