Calling in Jakes.....

[toddyboman]

I was thinking back on my time in the woods over the past several years and I NEVER call in Jakes..... I kill good 2 to 3 year old birds every year.

The farm I hunt holds a good number of turkeys so I know the jakes are there. I do see them throughout the year....but during turkey season I never call in any jakes. Usually I call in big gobblers, hens or nothing.

This really is not a problem because I don't want to shoot them but I am kinda confused by this.

Can anyone explain this or have any insight??

[Ambuscher]

I used to be the same way. This year I threw alot of calls to my turkey hens down at the barn. I would talk with them for 30 minutes at a time for practice. LOL This year I called up everything except for a long beard.

[Squirrelhunter91]

It's pretty much the same for me. I mean, my first gobbler was a jake, but my dad's friend called it in for me. And the last two years, every other bird I've called in was a longbeard. Never a jake. But I do have to admit, on the youth hunt this year, I did call a jake it for my brother on the 26th or 27th of April. We weren't able to seal the deal on that bird because as he was swinging his gun around for the shot, he got busted. But then just days later in the same general area, I was able to call in a 2 year old tom for my buddy. He was able to lay the smackdown on him.

[RangerClay]

I have found where I hunt that the jakes come in silent. My guess is that they don't want their butts kicked by a big old tom. If I have a long beard come in then hold up, I can count a jake sneaking in for a little lovin'. If your tom population is high enough I would bet that the jakes are holding back out of fear.

[toddyboman]

My guess is that they don't want their butts kicked by a big old tom. If I have a long beard come in then hold up, I can count a jake sneaking in for a little lovin'. If your tom population is high enough I would bet that the jakes are holding back out of fear.

This has been my guess as to what is going on.......But I was not 100% sure.

Thanks for the responses everyone.

[buckbuster11]

I have the exact opposite luck, maybe we should swap strategies.

I call jakes in all the time. Like mentioned above, they usually sneak in, sometimes without making a sound. I find I call most of my jakes in when days are slow and nothing is gobbling.....I'll just setup in an area I know holds birds and call for an hour or so. I'll get a lot of jakes sneaking in that way.

[Turkeygirl]

Jakes are probably scared off by the bigger birds....

[bluedog]

I call in jakes quite a bit too, but 9 times out of 10 they come in silent. In general, I let the youngin's walk, but if a jake wants to gobble and put on a good show then I will take a jake.

Who knows why turkeys do what they do? LOL! I've been hunting turkeys for 9 or 10 years. I hunt a lot in the rain and to this day, I have never seen a mature gobbler in a field on a rainy day. Lots of hens and jakes, just no gobblers. Isn't the convential wisdom to hunt fields in the rain? Only the turkeys know why they do what they do.

[Leo]

If you're working a mature and very vocal bird, usually jakes don't come in. They will, occasionally but usually they don't.

When I'm blind calling. Which is necessary during a gobbling lull. Jakes show up frequently.

[WaCoyote]

I've called in a few and have zero problem popping a Jake. They've all been vocal too. Maybe because they're Merriams? Maybe not, but they come in for me occasionally and act like they own the world when they see my decoy.