OldGobbler

OG Gear Store
Sum Toy
Dave Smith
Wood Haven
North Mountain Gear
North Mountain Gear
turkeys for tomorrow

News:

only use regular PayPal to provide purchase protection

Main Menu

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

Started by ncquackersmacker, May 07, 2012, 09:30:15 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

blackmagic

Ok, so what would you call this bird?

Full fan....1/2" & 3/16" nubs...6 3/4" lightning bolt shaped beard...and here's the kicker, 12lbs.

TRKYHTR

Quote from: blackmagic on May 09, 2012, 12:03:41 AM
Ok, so what would you call this bird?

Full fan....1/2" & 3/16" nubs...6 3/4" lightning bolt shaped beard...and here's the kicker, 12lbs.

Adult gobbler. Just real small.

TRKYHTR
RIP Marvin Robbins


[img]http://i261.photobuck

BHhunter

I can't tell the difference....they all taste the same when cooked right. :boon:

Flydown


blackmagic

Cool, thanks for the info.  That bird came in shakin the cypress and ready to pounce on my jake decoy.  Threw up a full fan and popped him at 17 yds.

davisd9

Quote from: blackmagic on May 09, 2012, 12:03:41 AM
Ok, so what would you call this bird?

Full fan....1/2" & 3/16" nubs...6 3/4" lightning bolt shaped beard...and here's the kicker, 12lbs.

Tom no doubt!
"A turkey hen speaks when she needs to speak, and says what she needs to say, when she needs to say it. So every word a turkey speaks is for a reason." - Rev Zach Farmer

Skeeterbait

Quote from: blackmagic on May 09, 2012, 11:39:32 AM
Cool, thanks for the info.  That bird came in shakin the cypress and ready to pounce on my jake decoy.  Threw up a full fan and popped him at 17 yds.


Maybe he was a Bantam Gobbler  :icon_thumright:

They are just like people in that some grow larger, some grow faster, and some don't.  But that bird has been through his first molt so he isn't a jake anymore.

RutnNStrutn

I'd say no, not by just the head. Especially me, since I don't see the red standing out like most of you do, because I have a red-green color deficiency. But I've seen some jakes that had heads that looked like gobblers. I also killed a gobbler once that came in through tall grass. I saw a full fan, so I knew it was a gobbler. But the spurs were covered, the beard disappeared in the grass, and the head offered no clue. Fortunately he strutted enough for me to know. After I shot him, he had beard rot and only sported a 5" beard. But he was a true limbhanger Osceola. So I would say, head - no, beard - no, spurs - most of the time you can't see them, so I'll go with full fan.

blackmagic

Quote from: Skeeterbait on May 09, 2012, 01:26:30 PM
Quote from: blackmagic on May 09, 2012, 11:39:32 AM
Cool, thanks for the info.  That bird came in shakin the cypress and ready to pounce on my jake decoy.  Threw up a full fan and popped him at 17 yds.


Maybe he was a Bantam Gobbler  :icon_thumright:

They are just like people in that some grow larger, some grow faster, and some don't.  But that bird has been through his first molt so he isn't a jake anymore.
Maybe a Cornish Game Gobbler

Here's another picture of the full fan.

Mike Honcho

I called in a bird in the late afternoon last year and had same issue...he was in some tall grass , weeds down a slight slope about 35-40 yds from me...All I could see was a big red head...I manuevered around my tree and got the Mossy 835 sights on him then I hesitated a split second when I realized I hadn't seen the beard...in that split second he took flight and I saw a real nice beard as he flew away...I never did get that one.

MDSTRUTNRUT

Don't think you can tell from head alone.   JR and I had a longbeard and 5 jakes come into a wheat field a few years back.   All we could see were their necks and heads so we each picked out a big white head 1, 2, 3 BLAM.    2 jakes down and the longbeard jumps up and walks away untouched at 15 yards.   After a good laugh we decided he was a dead bird walkin and were tickled for the double.      Seen 2 DEAD full fan jakes over the years, nub spurs and short beards.   Still jakes but hey, IF THEY COME TO THE SHOW AND LOOK GOOD SHOOOT EM!

surehuntsalot

it's not the harvest,it's the chase