Talking Turkey

In terms of turkeys a hen is a mature female and a jake is a young male.  The immature jake does not exhibit many of the attributes of a mature male gobbler - or tom – yet sometimes can resemble a hen.  As a consequence it is useful to know how to distinguish between a hen and a jake, particularly if hunting wild turkey.  

You can usually tell the difference between an adult male gobbler, a juvenile male jake turkey and a hen by looking at a turkey’s appearance.  The breast feathers of a male bird have black tips while the breast feathers of a hen are brown.   If you were to scrutinize the leg length from where the leg starts at the body to the middle of the top of the foot at the base of the toes. The leg length of a jake will be longer than the leg length of a hen.  The head of a hen is almost always uniformly gray - accounting for their nickname 'gray-head'.  Gobblers generally have long beards and much longer leg spurs.  All tail feathers of adult males are the same length while the feathers forming the center of a jake's tail are usually longer than the rest of the feathers in the tail.  While jakes generally sport short beards the presence of a beard or leg spurs is not a reliable indicator of whether the turkey is a jake or hen.   While not common, hens can have a beard and spurs. 

click on the jakes for proper ID

 

In Wisconsin it is illegal to kill turkey hens in the spring of the year so knowing the difference between a mature female turkey and a young male is crucial.

click on the hens for a proper ID