You cant compare turkeys to deer. Like comparing apples to oranges. You dont pass on 2yr old turkeys that gobble like mad and plays the game for the silent 5yr olds do you? If he gobbles(almost full fan) and gives you the excitement of a full grown Tom he dies, whether that be a super jake or not.

I encountered one this past saturday. He sounded like a grown'un and I thought I was about to kill my first turkey. When he made it to where I could see him he had a beard that was about 2" long and was sticking up and he acted like a dumb bird. He did strut, but I don't remember exactly what his fan looked like. He acted the way I would expect a young, uneducated bird to act.

Welp, I "accidentally" decked this SuPPer Jake in 2013, after a series of hunts on 2 birds that were roosted on the corner of my property, up on a hardwood knoll:



We'd hunted these jokers multiple times, and the 2 birds would gobble their freakin' heads off, but wouldn't ever come into our setup... SuPPer Jake was a gobbling fool, so we swung wide around & setup a rambo/stalk on them -- calling occasionally & they'd hammer ever single time; when we charged the knoll, the 2 birds took off running & I was the only one with a shot, so I unloaded a blended shell on the first white head I saw... Ended up being SuPPer Jake... It was super-jungley in this spot 'cause it was a swamp bottom & the knoll was a rise in the wood above all the gra-doo...

That's just the way the pellets roll sometimes...

BGD

I have the same rule as well. Apparently, so does Bowhunter84. He'll call you off taking a shot (as the decoy spins circles on its stake after being repeatedly kicked in the face), and then shoot it right out from under you as soon as he gobbles

Yes, I would....I'm not managing a turkey to get to 4+ so I honestly don't see the reason not to shoot a jake that gobbles....I've yet to encounter one but I'm sure I'd shoot one if given the opportunity

I've yet to ever kill a turkey. I've seen plenty of hens but the toms and jakes have avoided me. If it struts and gobbles it's probably down for me. At least till I get 1-2 in.

So if a turkey gobbles (not sqauks but rolls them out) out of sight comes in and never fans out. Head is RWB and swelled like a baseball, but has a short beard, Stands tall and rolls one out in your face some of you guys won't shoot? Labels aside, I'm shooting that bastard in the face and frying his breast into golden nuggets of deliciousness. Is it what I'd prefer to shoot, no. I let a short bearded Merriam that never strutted close to me, but rolled them out like a champ crap on me in NE three years ago and decided if they can play with the big boy's girls, they can die.

One year we had 3 bull jacksons (supper jakes) running together, they were like my buddies, they would always get another bird cranked up and i knew if they were gobbling another one somewhere would be to, I almost hated shooting one of them the next year.

You bet your ass you will. It'll give you the same thrill as a big bird. It's not like you can see spurs anyway (most of the time) and would pass on one that only had 1/2 inch ones after playing the game...

Yep, my thoughts exactly.

I agree totally....if he'll play the game, I'll bust him!

I have passed them before and will again. I don't care to shoot a jake.

If the one on the left ain't a super Jake he'll do til the super Jake gets here.

I don't want to either, but how do you know? To each their own, I'm just curious. I like to kill gobbling turkeys. I really like to kill turkeys with long spurs. I generally don't know how long the spurs are till I pick him up. So Gobbling always wins out for me.

i'd give a hunded dolla bill for a super jake like that Brent

If a 9" beard, gobblin' bird is a super jake, then... he's a dead super jake in front of my barrel; IJS

I will say this, re: deer hunting; *MOST* times (not all), it's WAY easier to "field judge" a young buck than it is a turkey...

I passed up 3 different shot opportunities on one this past saturday morning. It would've been my first bird, ever. I don't regret it one bit. It was a great hunt. Everything happened except spitting and drumming and pulling the trigger. I wouldn't think less of anyone for shooting the bird I let walk. If someone is happy to shoot it, I'm happy for'em!

BTW, for the record, I didn't mean for this to turn into a "controversial" thread; I was honestly just curious what the term "super jake" meant 'cause I'd never heard that before... Seriously...

To me, a "gobbler" is a tom turkey that gobbles, period. What his score and/or age is has always been irrelevant; if he walks & talks like a gobbler, then he gets the lead.

I will say, based on the definition here, I've taken quite a few "super jakes"; typically, I'll take one a year & let the rest of the "super jakes" walk, and I've usually seen then in groups of 2-6 jakes/"super jakes" at a time, so taking one out is no big deal (in my book).

I won't shoot one knowingly. I've made mistakes before, and I shot a handful when I was little. I try to make sure one has a full fan or good beard before pulling the trigger.

These frickin rio jakes here in oklahoma will sound and work just like a mature bird. Numerous times I have worked one for over a hr and then its a dang jake! I hunt mostly one bird counties up here so I will generally pass unless its the last day, then he gets shot in the face...