Missouri's youth turkey season will take place this weekend, and all signs are pointing toward it being a tough one for young hunters.
Hunters have two major factors going against them as the season kicks in - the weather forecast isn't good, and turkey numbers are at the lowest levels they've been in years.
Gobbling activity has been somewhat sparse, though it's picked up the last few days, and the birds still appear to be mostly in their winter mode. Worse, the weekend forecast looks to be cold, with lows in the upper 20s and highs only in the upper 40s to lower 50s, conditions which won't improve the gobbling situation a bit.
"Those aren't very good conditions," said Missouri Department of Conservation Resource Scientist Jason Isabelle, "and it's going to be challenging."
Missouri's birds are "behind schedule" because of the persistent cool weather, Isabelle said, noting radio-tagged turkey flocks in northern counties just started to break up in the last day or two.
"It's just one of those springs that's taking forever to get here, so our birds are behind," he said.
Isabelle said success this spring will come easier for those who have done lots of pre-season scouting to locate birds, and with the gobblers not yet all that fired up, setting up a blind and decoys in an area known to hold birds and cold-calling may be the best youth-season tactic.
Turkey numbers also remain low, with the last two springs' statewide poult-to-hen ratios tied for the lowest nesting success on record. That means there just won't be many hard-gobbling 2-year-old birds around, nor will there be many inquisitive jakes, the type of gobblers which typically make up the majority of the spring harvest.
Reading between the lines, that also means it's likely any birds a hunter works will be older and tougher to deal with.
"Hunters are just going to have to work harder," Isabelle said, "but from my perspective, even during our challenging years, our hunting is still good compared to most states."
Regulation-wise, the youth season runs both Saturday and Sunday, with hunting hours from one-half hour before sunrise until sunset, and children ages 6-15 on opening day are eligible.
Hunters will need a permit, whether it's the reduced-price resident spring turkey permit, a resident landowner spring turkey permit or a nonresident spring turkey hunting permit.
Youth hunters must also remain with a properly-licensed adult hunter, unless he or she has completed a hunter education course themselves, and they must be able to hold and fire their shotgun themselves.
As in years past, the youth season limit is one bird, which counts against the overall spring limit of two birds. If a youth hunter takes a turkey during the youth season, they cannot take another one until the second week of the regular season.
Missouri's regular spring turkey season will run April 16-May 6.
Rise, Fall, Repeat
Wappapello and Clearwater lakes remain high and "chocolate milk" muddy, making fishing a difficult and mostly unsuccessful proposition. If anything, catfishing in the flooded shoreline brush should be especially good right now.
Wappapello crested early Sunday at just under 370 feet and now is falling.
As of early this morning, Wappapello had dropped to 368.3 feet, and Project Manager Cindy Jackson said it should fall about 4-5 inches per day.
"We're putting out about 7,200 cfs now," she said.
Because it is so close to the normal spring pool change date, Jackson said, Wappapello will not be drawn back down to winter pool, but instead will be taken down to its summer recreation pool of 360 feet.
No estimate has been given, but at the rate the lake should be falling, summer pool should be reached in a couple weeks.
Over at Clearwater Lake, the water was expected to crest late yesterday afternoon at around 517.4 feet, which is 23-plus feet above normal.
The current discharge from Clearwater's tailwater is 3,372 cfs, and barring additional heavy rainfall, the Little Rock District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is expecting the lake to return to its normal 494 feet around April 17.
Beginning April 30, Clearwater's pool is scheduled to rise to 498 feet.
Tournament
Rescheduled
The Angler's Choice circuit was supposed to host a bass tournament out of the Chaonia Landing ramp on Wappapello Lake Sunday, but the high water and cold conditions have forced organizers to reschedule the event.
According to tournament director Ken Owens, the event now will take place on either on April 15 or 22.
The exact date will be published when it's available, or you can call Owens at 573-820-3715 to stay informed.