Spoiled Wife/Opinions Needed

[zelmo1]

The title is a little misleading, lol. Mrs Z is a wonderful human. My question is this, Mrs Z has been spoiled by me because I am an enabler. I love to hunt and call turkeys so I havent let her fully develop as she could. So, she found a new spot. We scouted and found the correct spot to set up and she has been practicing her calling so she can call in her own bird this year. She has shot birds before, is it "breaking the code" if she shoots a jake for her first solo bird? I'm pretty sure she won't, but I am curious to see it all unfold. Hopefully I will be recording the events. Just looking for opinions here, I believe that they are your tags and you make your own decisions. I don't shoot jakes but don't begrudge anyone for shooting one. My opinion on this one in particular is that it would be ok for her first solo bird but I will understand if she refuses the shot. No wrong opinions here, lol. Z

[tad1]

Let the lady decide!  And good luck!!
    JT

[Notsoyoungturk]

Agree with tad1.  Let her decide.  I, like you, don't think she will because it is not her first bird and I think she will want a gobbler.

[Timmer]

It's legal, so her choice.

[Greg Massey]

Regardless whatever she decides the hunt will always be memorable... Tell her good luck from me and go get that gobbler ... 

[Happy]

If her makes her happy, then that's the point of it all isn't it? I do things the way I see fit and expect others to do the same. All within legal limits, of course. No judgement from me.

[boatpaddle]

Ladies choice...

Her hunt, her tag, & her memories.

Best of luck to her...

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[Paulmyr]

Try a little reverse physcology on her. Tell her Jake's are for women and kids so go ahead and shoot one! Most women I know will have non of the that and definitely hold out for an adult gobbler.

[Turkeybutt]

You taught her, she knows what she has to do and I'm sure she will get it done. Any bird she shoots will be a trophy in her eyes for this solo hunt. Let her decide and be happy with the outcome.

[zelmo1]

I'm just the lumper/camera guy. She is doing the whole deal on her own. Either way, we will  have a great day. The older we get , the more we like to spend 1/1 time together. This life stuff seems to be working out for us.  Z

[RutnNStrutn]

It's her solo hunt, so it should be her choice.
Like you, I don't judge anyone on a legal harvest. Not everyone has the same hunting opportunities, the same amount of time off, or the same amount of money to spend on hunting. So in my opinion, if it's legal, and it makes you happy, I wish you the best of luck. I could care less what the holier than thou's think.

[Cowboy]

Legal harvest and her choice to make. My wife's hunt, I told her it was up to her if she took a jake. She has never killed a jake yet. She's ate a couple tags, but she's on her 5th longbeard to date.

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[eggshell]

I am in the group that says, "do what makes you happy". I prefer not to shoot jakes, but in my 55th year of turkey hunting and too many to count stage of the sport I will not rule out shooting a jake to this day. I think they are seed for tomorrow, but I have had some very good hunts calling in jakes. I have shot several in my day and I may shoot another the next trip out. I see no problem with it at all and it is nothing more then a flavor. Some people like strawberry and some like blueberry, neither is right nor wrong. Some of this was discussed in another thread about scoring birds, my personal opinion is when we let size and trophy status dictate what we shoot we are often robbing ourselves of some of the joy of the hunt. Now if trophy hunting is your sole joy then have at it, the main point is, our sport is just that a sport and should provide us release and happiness to offset life. It's an escape, so don't let it just be another pressure point. Biologically the science says making jakes available for harvest has no significant impact on the flocks, so don't worry be happy and blast that jake if you've had fun.

[GobbleNut]

I agree with everybody that she should make the decision for herself. For me, personally, there is another factor involved in decisions about shooting jakes. That is, it boils down to a wildlife management decision about whether, in a given situation, it is better to leave those jakes alone. Yes, the choice should be hers to make, but every discussion about such matters should be used as a learning experience.

Here, I will present a glaring example of poor judgement about shooting jakes. Several years ago, one of the big-name "influencers" hunted a location here in my state that, for years, has been suffering from drought conditions that has had a significant impact on turkey numbers...especially on reproductive success.  The guy hunted several days over a wide area and, as I recall, heard one gobbler and found very little sign of turkeys. On the last day, he called in two jakes together...and what did he do?  He shot both of them!

Simply stated, that was totally irresponsible. Yes, those jakes may have eventually been shot by someone else...or killed by a predator...blah, blah, blah. ...But sometimes decisions to shoot jakes needs to be made with an understanding about how pulling the trigger on one will possibly impact the future of the turkey population in any given area.

Having said that, I also think that situations like I describe above are pretty rare. However, when there is a obvious need to show some restraint, we hunters should be cognizant of them. Sometimes it is better just to eat a tag.   

[Tail Feathers]

Jake's have been lots of "first birds" for hunters.  Gotta break that ice.