When did turkey season start in Missouri?
The Missouri Department of Conservation has set the date for the state’s 2022 deer and turkey seasons. Turkey season will get underway with the spring youth portion on April 9th and 10th. The regular spring turkey season will run from April 18th through May 8th.
What county in in Missouri has the most turkeys?
Sullivan County reported 513 turkeys. Other counties include Putnam at 456; Linn at 417; and Mercer 389; Daviess at 380; Livingston 330; and Grundy County with 319.
Are electronic turkey calls legal in Missouri?
Mouth and hand calls may be used any time. Electronic calls or electronically activated calls may be used to pursue and take crows and furbearers. They may also be used to take light geese during the Conservation Order.
How many turkeys were harvested in Missouri?
Preliminary data shows that turkey hunters checked 33,355 birds during Missouri’s 2022 regular spring turkey season, April 18 through May 8. Young turkey hunters also harvested 2,896 birds over the youth weekend, April 9 and 10, bringing the overall 2022 spring turkey harvest to 36,251.
Are Missouri turkey numbers down?
Missouri’s turkey production in 2021 was about 11% higher than the five-year state average. But compared to the average over the past 20 years, turkey production in 2021 was down 23%.
Where is the best turkey hunting in Missouri?
Whetstone Creek Conservation Area, managed by the Missouri Department of Conservation, is in Callaway County approximately 40 miles east of Columbia, which had the third highest spring turkey harvest in Missouri during the 2013 season (786 birds harvested).
Is Missouri’s turkey population declining?
Turkey populations in Missouri peaked in 2004 at about 600,000 birds. Since then, populations have plummeted to an estimated 350,000 turkeys statewide.
What is the Missouri state record turkey?
26.77 pounds
On certified scales, the bird weighed 26.77 pounds, a big one by Missouri standards. According to the National Wild Turkey Federation records, the heaviest wild turkey taken in recent times in Missouri was a 33-pound tom killed near Franklin in 1990.
Are turkeys going extinct 2021?
“However, when comparing the statewide PHR to the average turkey production observed over the last 10 and 20-years, production in 2021 was below the long-term average,” according to a news release from MDC.
Is Missouri good for turkey hunting?
For now, officials say northern Missouri remains a stronghold for turkey numbers, as does the vast Ozarks. On a personal note, the so-called Show-Me State has provided some excellent turkey hunting on greened-up farmland and in wooded habitats. These are some of the most intense gobblers I’ve ever hunted.
What state has the highest wild turkey population?
What makes Alabama a standout for turkey hunting is really two things: it has the largest turkey population (except Texas in some years), and hunters can harvest up to five turkeys over the fall and spring seasons, at a limit of one per day.
Do you have to wear orange to turkey hunt in Missouri?
To satisfy this rule, you must wear both a hunter-orange hat and a hunter-orange shirt, vest, or coat. The hunter-orange color must be plainly visible from all sides.
Is it legal to shoot a turkey with a slug?
Only shotgun shells with loose #2 size shot or smaller may be in your possession while hunting for turkeys (California Code of Regulations Title 14, section 311(b)). So, if you are hunting turkeys, you cannot carry a slug because it’s not shot loose in the shell.
What was the biggest turkey ever?
86 lb
Fun fact: The heaviest turkey in the world weighed 86 lb In 1989, a stag turkey named Tyson weighed 86 lb. (39.09 kg), earning it the Guinness World Record of the greatest dressed weight recorded for a turkey.
What state has the largest wild turkey population?
Why are turkey numbers down in Missouri?
Uncontrolled hunting and habitat destruction nearly drove the species locally extinct and by the 1950s, an estimated 2,500 turkeys were left statewide. Decades of habitat restoration and breeding programs helped the population rebound. Turkey populations in Missouri peaked in 2004 at about 600,000 birds.