No Jakes Rule?

[Five Seasons]

No need for a beard size restriction... just looking at the fan will tell mature from juvenile.

Actually I'm the rules and regs the fan is also part of it. Can't remember the specifics or if it's a reg or just to help you ID.

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[Grizz1219]

Seeing a Tom can breed multiple hens multiple times a day, the limiting factor becomes hens, not Toms.. Unlike whitetail deer where a buck can only breed 5-6 does a year... So by lowering the number of hens killed in the fall would help the #'s... But look into the NWTF's Save the Hunt, Save the Habitat program for NY... It's a 10 year plan to bring back the turkey #'s....

[dbHunterNY]

it's really easy not to shoot a jake.  beard restriction is a horrible idea.  I've seen numerous old toms that had a frost bit stub for a beard.  like has been said it's easy to tell the difference despite most do it by the beard.  the wings and more observable tail fan is clearly not full of feathers all the same length.  some say they shot a jake because it gobbled so they thought it was a tom.  I've called in some thunderous jakes.  heck last spring I called one in and heard it from across the valley like it was in my lap.  I filmed and called to it to were I got it to gobble on command for over 45 minutes non-stop at 12-40 yards.  that was a great hunt despite not killing anything.

[Fantail]

Since I got into Archery I've done much less fall Turkey. Haven't shot a hen in a long time. Point is for Spring I usually hit a few spots in the SZ, as where I am in the NZ there happens to be far less Turkey to begin with. Imo some zones seasons should be adjust for this fact similar to dmp's instead of a general open approach.