How to tell the difference between a jake and tom by the head only?

[ncquackersmacker]

For some this may seem elementry but is there a sure fire ways to tell the difference?  This afternoon, while hunting a hay field I had a bird come out feeding and all I could see was his head.  I watched this turkey work it's way toward me for ten minutes uncertain that I was looking at a gobbler.  I consider myself a good turkey hunter but I was stumped.  I was 90% certain it was a tom but could not bring myself to pull the trigger until I saw a beard.  He was in a relaxed state with a redish white tint to his head but he did have a cotton top, which told me gobbler.  Like I said I was alomost certain but did not shoot until I saws his beard.  Turned out to be a great bird with great hooks.  So again is there a sure fire way to tell the difference by looking at the head alone?

[drenalinld]

No.

[pcgobbler]

I disagree.  I have seen a handful of jakes with snowball white top heads the last couple of years.  Two of them had 7.25" beards.  I know because they got shot for longbeards. Both of them had the last two or three feathers in their fan about 1/2" shorter than the rest.  Sad part is one was a double beard and one a triple beard.  It was a shame, they would have been really nice longbeards next year.  I also called up a jake last year with a white top head, that almost got shot till I saw his cigar sticking out.

[TRKYHTR]

No. I've seen lots of strutting Jakes that have big heads. If you could see his wing patch you could tell but not just the head.

TRKYHTR

[Skeeterbait]

I think the only reliable indicators are beard, wingpatch, or tail. 

[WiLL B]

No. I've seen lots of strutting Jakes that have big heads. If you could see his wing patch you could tell but not just the head.

TRKYHTR

I agree

[mudhen]

From the head alone?  Not that I know of.

Full tail is the only fairly certain way I know of, and even that can be tricky.

Shot a few toms with smooth legs, broken or very short beard, etc.

Even the tail can be tricky, with Super Jakes having a seemingly full fan, less the two on each end being a bit shorter than the rest of the tail feathers.  I have shot a few Super Jakes.

Speaking of large jakes, my record is #18.5 w/7" beard, from Kansas of course, where turkeys tend to be well fed 

mudhen

[ncquackersmacker]

Thanks guys, I was really feeling like a novice yesterday with that thing in the binos trying to decide to shot or not.  Thank goodness for a ground blind, it bought me the time to wait it out and make a good choice.

[hookedspur]

No. I've seen lots of strutting Jakes that have big heads. If you could see his wing patch you could tell but not just the head.

TRKYHTR

[wvboy]

Agreed.. no way to tell from the head alone.. or from gobbling..

Need to see that fan or wing patch ..

[Rapscallion Vermilion]

Could someone explain what to look for in the wing patch?  Any pictures?  Thanks.

[davisd9]

When I was in Ms. with dirt road ninja we had two jakes walk out on us.  The first things we saw was their heads and by looking at that I got ready to take the safety off the gun, did not take it off just got my finger in position.  They had big heads, but turned out to be two jakes with 4-5 in beards.  We kept them around for about 15 minutes and the wondered off.  There is no true way to tell a difference in a jake and tom other than a tail fan.  Some jakes gobble just as loud and hard as a Tom and some are close to being as big.  I look at beard, try to look at spurs, and hopefully tail fan.  Had a friend here is SC that killed a jake off the sound of his gobble, completely legal to shoot a jake in SC.  Best advice is to sit still and wait until he struts, or you can see a long beard, 9, 10, or more inches, and hopefully see spurs. 

There are birds you can look at and just tell, by the size and how they hold their weight.  Good Luck!

[catdaddy]

You can't tell from by just looking at the head. The previous posters are correct regarding the wing patch and the tail, but for myself--I dont pull the trigger untill I see the beard.

[Mark K]

My biggest spurred bird to date had a 3in beard (Beard rot). This bird came in strutting on and off the whole way to 32 yards, then turned sideways and I saw the stub of a beard. He did a complete circle giving me a full view of a full fan and when he raised his head he died right there!! Fans are the only way I know to tell for sure.

[Skeeterbait]

Just like the tail, the wing patch feathers will be uneven until the first molt.