Gaggle of jakes

[dhaverstick]

Thought I'd share these to get everyone in the mood. I have a gaggle of 9 jakes that hang out behind my house almost daily. A couple days ago we had a thunderstorm and they'd gobble every time it thundered. Missouri regulations say you can take a bird with a visible beard. You have to look close on these guys. I sure hope some grownups join their club!

Darren

 

[ezekiel]

Nice! I hope ole long beard pays you a visit. Good luck hunting!

 

[sb 54 cal.]

Started getting my gear ready. Saw a couple of big gobblers last week.( that got me fired up.)

 

[Rock Home Isle]

This is so cool.

 

[sheriff john]

Saw a flock of about a dozen this afternoon here in N.E. Missouri, most quite small last year's birds. The huge flocks have disappeared due to predators. 50-60 birds were not uncommon, but not today. Bird flu is here now in wild birds according to Mo. Conservation Commission.

Glad to see your photos, very nice. Thanks.

 

[3Setters]

They all taste good. I;m partial to the legs, used in soup.

 

[Feltwad]

Saw a flock of about a dozen this afternoon here in N.E. Missouri, most quite small last year's birds. The huge flocks have disappeared due to predators. 50-60 birds were not uncommon, but not today. Bird flu is here now in wild birds according to Mo. Conservation Commission.

Glad to see your photos, very nice. Thanks.

It seems that bird flue is now world wide it is proving a problem in the wild and game birds here in the UK and the Continent . I think it is mostly spread by migrating birds
Feltwad

 

[Old Hawkeye]

Cool pics! Just a FYI, but Gaggle is the term for a group of geese. A group of turkeys is called a Rafter, but both can be called a flock as well. Where I live they gather in Rafters of up to 200+ birds in the winter & are at nuisance population levels. Pretty much wiped out our pheasant & quail. We are getting more & more Bobcats though, as turkeys are their favorite food. Nature always adjust!

 

[bushytail]

It’s nice that your seeing turkeys. I’ve done a little bit of scouting and only seen a few tracks. I’m gonna check some other areas for turkey sign.

 

[Hawkin’]

Cool pics! Just a FYI, but Gaggle is the term for a group of geese. A group of turkeys is called a Rafter, but both can be called a flock as well. Where I live they gather in Rafters of up to 200+ birds in the winter & are at nuisance population levels. Pretty much wiped out our pheasant & quail. We are getting more & more Bobcats though, as turkeys are their favorite food. Nature always adjust!

I think you’re right about the bobcats. Our population of cats is growing here and the turkeys seem to be declining

 

[BruceS]

How do turkeys wipe out the pheasant and quail populations?

 

[Old Hawkeye]

How do turkeys wipe out the pheasant and quail populations?

Pheasants & quail are ground nesting birds & the turkeys eat their eggs. Turkeys will hunt down baby quail & eat them like crickets. If you have a high population of turkeys, kiss your quail & pheasant hunting goodbye. I saw it happen where I live & I HATE turkeys! As far as I'm concerned the only good turkey is a dead one. Biggest mistake the DNR made was to reintroduce the *******s. Then protect them to the point that they have overrun the birds that were here to near extinction. But the state gets $20 per tag for a turkey, go figure!

 

[2 shots]

all you guys with too many turkeys.. what states are you in ?? maybe we could hunt some for you

 

[Old Hawkeye]

all you guys with too many turkeys.. what states are you in ?? maybe we could hunt some for you

Iowa. I could kill dozens of them if the state would issue me the tags. Unfortunately they restrict "non-resident tags" so your chances are limited. It's the most stupid game management thing I have ever witnessed, but that's fairly typical with the Iowa DNR. These turkeys are actually in some cities & destroying peoples gardens for crying out loud & the state still has the same restrictive regulations it had when they introduced them nearly 50 years ago. There's no explaining this level of stupidity.

 

[FiremanBrad]

I’ve been killing turkeys for a long time in both Mo and iowa. Never have I found a dead baby quail in the craw of a turkey. It just doesn’t happen enough to decimate the quail population.
That story goes right up there with black panthers!!!

 

[Brazos John]

2nd Place contender for Our National Bird.
I like the winners better.
They taste like chicken!

 

[TraderVic]

all you guys with too many turkeys.. what states are you in ?? maybe we could hunt some for you

Wisconsin as well. Getting to be way too many hens here. Our fall turkey season allows hens.

 

[TraderVic]

BTW, great pics ! The "fans" clearly show the difference between a Jake and a Tom.

 

[Ponderosaman]

Here in AZ where I see a lot of elk, there isn’t as many deer. Wild living is a hard living. I do know for a fact that turkeys eat insects so they could eat quail chicks, but haven’t heard of that either. I just think when you have an animal in an area that uses up resources and space it pushes out the other animals in the area especially if they are similar in diet and behavior. Turkeys are upland game birds, so would compete directly with pheasant and quail.

 

[GrandLakeHunter]

I’ve been killing turkeys for a long time in both Mo and iowa. Never have I found a dead baby quail in the craw of a turkey. It just doesn’t happen enough to decimate the quail population.
That story goes right up there with black panthers!!!

What do you think the odds are that you would find eaten quail chicks during the Iowa spring or fall turkey season? Do your homework then figure that one out if you're in a region outside Iowa. I'd say it would be pretty rare since most quail hatch around June in your region. Turkeys only have a few weeks for easy quail chick meals as the chicks can fly in about 2-3 weeks after hatching. Hunter examination of turkeys harvested during legal seasons has little bearing on quail chick mortality numbers. The devil is in the details as with most things and general observations that exclude them need to be reassessed.