Turkey Hunting-Kids Allowed to Shoot Jakes?

[booger]

MDWFP has approved and now there is a 30 day discussion period for allowing kids 15 and under to harvest jakes.

I think it's good. More kids will hunt, learn about jakes/adults, get some success and be future hunters. Everyone used to be able to hunt'em until a few years ago and it never hurt the population. Turkeys have never been more populous.

What do ya'll think? It's just about a done deal.

[vicksburg]

Sounds good getting kids involved. If they do something like this for turkey's, seems like they would let em shoot spikes too during deer season.

[jbeam17]

I am all for getting new hunters out there, but I think they should allow the kids to just shoot jakes on youth day, Turkey pops are not at there best, and if you allow the taking of jakes all year long, yes that child will have a great time, but over the long run when they figure out what a trophy bird is, there will be a lower number to of those 2 year old that run in just as good but avg a 9 in beard.

[bigbear]

I would have to agree with Pintail. I think it is a fine idea for youth to kill jakes on Youth Weekend, but how are they going to learn what the real challenge turkey hunting is if they kill jakes all year long. I know that we need to get kids into hunting, but the joy and challenge of turkey hunting is chasing the trophy as much as it is killing a longbeard. Maybe there could be a self imposed first bird rule that kids could make their first bird a jake, but then follow the same rules as everyone else. You will keep the kids just as interested, not to mention teach them alot more about hunting, if you let them kill a jake that first weekend, then show them what it is to pass up a bird that is close enough to shoot. This will not get rid of the outlaws who take a kid just so the adult can kill a bird, but you aren't going to get rid of those idiots anyway!

[peewee]

I'm with pintail. I like the idea of getting the kids involved but in my part of the country there is just too many rednecks that will take advantage of this. You might as well open up jake season as far as I am concerned around here. (My brother-in-law will be one of them.) I personally dont believe the youth have to kill a turkey to get involved. I have taken my wife's little cousins the last 2 years and we aint killed a bird yet, but we have been on some good hunts and all he does is beg me to take him again and again. Thats just my 2 cents.

As far as turkeys being populous, I would be glad to take you to the South Delta and you would change your mind. I joined a camp in the South Delta 9 years ago mainly for the turkeys. Now there aint squat around. We did have a few birds this year and I was hoping this would be our rebounding year but that was ruined by the flood. That just sets us back a few more years. Just ask SB how many turkeys he has on his WMA, it aint many.

[Don Miller]

I am affraid that to many adult hunters will take advantage of it. How can a game warden know if daddy or junior killed the jake. I think that taking a jake is counter productive in teaching kids the value of conservation and will only open a can of worms when it comes to inforcing the game laws. Yes, we need to get kids involved in hunting, but I think this is the wrong way to go about it. When the kid reaches the age of 16, it will be harder for him to abstain from shooting a jake if he was told the year before that it is ok for him to shoot jakes. Get your kid involved in hunting and you want have to hunt for your kid.

[Hung Up]

Don't need to shoot jakes anyway, kids or not, they will learn a better lesson if they learn to pass up the smaller turkeys rather than killing them all off!!!!!!
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[ June 18, 2002: Message edited by: Hung Up ]

[booger]

I'm a little suprised at the responses so far. I'm no biologist and only turkey hunt a few times per year. Hunting them with rifles was legal until about 10(?) years ago, and shooting jakes was legal until about 1997(?) yet neither had any dramatic negative impact did it? Maybe in some areas, I dunno? Areas that flood in the spring have a habitat problem, not a regulation problem I would think.

Outlaws are gonna outlaw anyway. Do they even read the regulations?

Now is the time to send your comments to MDWFP.

[Hambone]

I think that a 1 jake per season rule for kids only would be fine. My eight year old got interested in turkey hunting this year and I want to do everything possible to give him a chance to shoot a turkey. The jake rule expands the options. I certainly agree that there is alot more to turkey hunting than just the kill. If killing was the only reason for the sport, no one would participate. On the other hand, taking the bird is high on the list of reasons why we go. I have hunted turkeys since I was eight years old (I'm thirty-eight now) and have never killed a jake, either when they were legal and certainly not since the law changed. My observation has been that most sincere turkey hunters outgrow jakes pretty quickly. What's the harm in letting a child take a young gobbler, particularly if it instills a love of the hunt? I say one jake per season for the kids, and if it creates a population problem or a violation problem, change the law back to the way it is now.

[Wildbill 835]

Alot of guys I hunt with bring their kids every now and then and from what I've seen kids get a couple every year between them but not enough to hurt the over all population.

[Jeff]

I agree with youth hunt only. Gobbling has definetly increased with the no JAKE rule, and I think the number of quality hunts has also increased. I think a little self restraint won't hurt anything. Also with the river being so high so late, a lot of places are going to have a very poor hatch this year and so in those areas JAKES are going to be limited anyway.

[ducman77]

I believe that good sportsmanship would be let the jakes go and shoot the big gobblers
there are more turkeys these days so killing a gobbler is not that hard.
my 2 cents

[swampland]

If you limit the jakes to just youth hunts,
it would put pressure on them to shoot the
first male turkey they see.

With that said; I say give the youth the
whole year to harvest 1 (one} jake.

You never know what that "YOUNG HUNTER"
might decide to harvest.

Pressure makes adults go "CRAZY"!!!!!
Remember "PEER PRESSURE"?????

Just like it was yesterday
[img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

[Bobby Williams]

No I am against it. When I was a kid growing up I always had to wait for the grown up to eat first. They get to pick the best chicken. They got to eat early. I always had to wait.They got to go hunting, fishing, ballgames, all kind of stuff I had to do the chores. Now that I am finally old enough what happens Kids get to eat first,kids get to the best piece of chicken, kids go to ball games,fishing, hunting and I am left to do the chores.Boy there is no justice in it.I am old,deaf,half blind and I don't get to shot a jake. I am the one that should be catered to not the youngens.Man what is this world coming to. [img]images/smiles/icon_mad.gif[/img]

[Bobby Williams]

Hey I got five stars. Check is in the mail. Maybe not much but I'll send you one.
Hey Goose I'm a five star eat your heart out. [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_cool.gif[/img]