MISSISSIPPI JAKES??

[wcgobbler]

I had 2 very mature longbeards on camera with 6-8 hens as recent as 2 week ago, but the longbeards have vanished.  This past Saturday....2 days ago, I watched through binoculars as a jake bred a hen in my chufa field.  In the same field at the same time, there were 6 other hens & 2 other jakes.  I have heard that jakes will team up & run off a longbeard, or two perhaps.  There are no other hunters for a couple of miles, so I know they are not dead.  Have any of you seen or experienced jakes running off longbeards?  Do you think this might be the case here?  I have fields, open hardwoods, pine plantation, thick cutover, water, chufa, hens...perfect habitat..but no longbeards.

[Haypatch]

Jakes will run a longbeard off... and keep them from gobbling!

[BowBendr]

Four years ago I had access to a killer piece of private  ground in NC, it was absolutely covered in jakes. Them 7 jakes ganged up and beat the fire out of the 2 mature toms that were residents there. It does happen...


2015 Old Gobbler contest Champions

[WisTurk]

I have heard of this before of a group of jakes ganging up on a tom or two and running them off, but I've never witnessed it first hand.

[kyturkeyhunter4]

Ive seen this happen before.

[Hooksfan]

Seen it first hand.
However; that does not necessarily explain what happened to your birds.  Just because there aren't other hunters for a couple miles, doesn't mean the birds won't travel further than that this time of year.  And.....it is Mississippi, some good ole boy might not be able to help himself if he saw or heard one of em gobbling on your place. 

[mgm1955]

Had 6 jakes run off a longbeard twice in one hunt!

[turkeyfoot]

Jskes will definitely whoop a tom but in my experience they don't run them off for good as long as hens are there mature tom will be near they just run them off that time then they come back

[Meadow Valley Man]

I had a Missouri longbeard just about in range when three jakes ran him off.

[wvmntnhick]

Sometimes, when that happens, I've been known to team up on the jakes. It gives the edge to the older toms again. 

[owlhoot]

Sometimes, when that happens, I've been known to team up on the jakes. It gives the edge to the older toms again. 

There ya go lol go chase em off

[nativeks]

Seen it happen by the same group of Jakes 3 times in 12 hours. Friend of mine swears he saw jakes run a gobbler off and the gobbler came back 45 minutes later with 2 other toms and ran the Jakes off.

[owlhoot]

Sounds like a small town Saturday night rivalry 

[Big perm2]

I have seen this myself also, after the jakes run the longbeards off I never herd a gobble on that piece of property the rest of the year, I also have red that during the spring a gobbler will travel up to 2 miles looking..

[silvestris]

If you call up a jake, scare the hell out of him.  If you call him up again, scare him again.  You want to condition him to fear vocal hens.  It won't keep the jake from  associating with hens he discovers by sight, but it can shut him up which is a plus.

Now insofar as the older gobblers are concerned, I suspect that they are still there but have been conditioned by the bully jakes to keep their mouths shut.  Listen for drumming and soft gobbler yelps.  They will come silently, or nearly so, to investigate the well placed call, preferably soft calling as the beat up adults will avoid the noisy hen for fear that the noisy hen will also attract the bully jakes.  That is what has been happening to the adult gobblers the last 2-3 weeks.