Missouri’s youth turkey hunters squeaked out a slightly better harvest during last weekend’s special season than they did a year ago.
Overall, young hunters tagged 2,771 birds, which was up slightly from 2,712 last year and is the best total since 2017, when 4,060 were taken.
Locally, most counties were somewhat similar to last year’s harvest, with some up a little and some down.
In Butler County, hunters took seven birds, down from 10 last year.
In Carter County, 11 turkeys were tagged, up one from a year ago.
Reynolds County’s youth hunters took home 10 turkeys this season.
Ripley County youth hunters killed 15 turkeys, up from 11 during the same period in 2020.
In Stoddard County, the youth season tally was 18 birds, up one from the 17 taken there last year.
Wayne County saw the largest increase in its harvest, going from 11 birds last year to 23 this year.
And, just like last year, no turkeys were taken by youth hunters in Dunklin County.
The top counties in the state were Miller with 71 turkeys taken, Texas with 71 and Callaway with 68.
Interestingly, the jake harvest didn’t go up as much as expected. The Department of Conservation reported a slightly better hatch in some areas of the state last year and expected the jake harvest to increase, but the increase was small.
This year, jakes made up 24.2% of the youth season harvest, while last year, the jakeshare of the total was 21.5%.
Missouri’s regular spring turkey season opens Monday and will continue through May 9.
Any hunter who took a bird during the youth season must wait until the second week of the regular season to take another.
I spent last week in another state chasing turkeys with a bow, and to say it was interesting was an understatement.
There was a close encounter on the first day, but nothing materialized out of it. I did see a pair of bearded hens running together, which was pretty neat, and I also learned a gobbler certainly will crawl under a fence if he really wants to, contrary to common belief.
I killed a bird on the second day, purely the result of previous scouting. A buddy and I knew where he roosted and knew where he spent his days, so we slipped into the area, set up a blind (pretty much a necessity when bowhunting turkeys) and put out a couple decoys.
A short while later, the bird gobbled at about 40 yards, and within a minute or two, he came in from behind us and literally walked next to the blind - as in about two feet away.
He flew across a tiny little creek about eight feet wide to where our decoys were set up in front and promptly attacked the jake (they always go to the jake because it’s a dominance thing).
At 12 yards, I took the shot and it was all over. He weighed 22-1/2 pounds, had a 10-3/4 inch beard and had 1-1/8 inch spurs.
Interestingly, we stayed in the blind a while longer and called another bearded hen into our setup before heading out.
The remainder of the week was spent fighting wind and rain and generally sloshing through the mud. We saw a smokey gray hen and several other gobblers, but never had another chance for a shot.
One of the coolest things we saw all week was a bald eagle being attacked by a peregrine falcon.
Poplar Bluff’s trap team hosted a MYSSA/ATA shoot weekend before last, its first home shoot of the year.
A total of 67 shooters turned out for the event, said coach Sandy Pike.
In the MYSSA competition, the top squad, with a score of 426, was Poplar Bluff High School, comprised of Garret Cooper, Blaine Birdsong, Trenton Patterson, Eli DePew and Jaydon Everts.
The High Overall Gold shooter was Cooper Rideout with a 98, while the top Silver shooter was Layne Clubb with 94 and the Bronze shooter was Patterson with 93.
The high school top individual shooters were Kenna Mills with 90, gold; Cooper with 87, silver; and Shannon Popp with 86, bronze.
At the junior high level, the top shooters were Logan Hart with 75, gold; James Gambill with 60, silver; and Cody Grobe with 60, bronze.
In the ladies division, Madison Cash scored 86, gold; Cheyenne Collins had 85, silver; and Abby Prewitt shot an 83, bronze.
In the ATA competition, the high gun for the day went to Dalton.
The singles high overall shooter was Rideout, who also earned his straight 50 patch. Mills was the high overall ladies singles shooter. In the pre-sub division, Kaidyn Powers took the top spot, while in the sub-junior division, Chet Orick came out on top. Patterson was the top shooter in the junior division, and Club earned the top spot in the junior gold division.
In handicaps shooting, Birdsong was the high overall winner, while Mills took the win in the ladies division. Patterson won the 18-21.5 yard division, Orick took the 22-24.5 yard division, and Dalton was top shooter in the 25-27 yard division.
In doubles competition, Dalton was the high overall shooter, while Hannah Sullivan was the top lady. Jaxon Toney won the pre-sub division, Rideout won the sub-junior division, Brayden Tarantino won the junior division and Hannah Cash won the junior gold division.
“It was a beautiful day and our shooters came through as usual,” said Pike. “They practice hard and it shows in every competition we participate in. Our younger shooters are already starting to shine, and it won’t be long that they will be winning awards as well.”
The trap team’s next event will be the Paul Larson Memorial Shoot at Linn Creek, Missouri, on Saturday, followed by another ATA home shoot May 1.
If you haven’t yet been out looking for morel mushrooms, you’re missing out on the best time to do so.
These rains we’ve been having, followed by sunny days, should make the morels pop.
As always, it’s best to focus your efforts around ash, elm and sycamore trees, especially if they are dying or recently died. Doing so will eliminate 99% of unproductive spots.
The Indian Creek Bowhunters will host a 3-D archery shoot Saturday at the Department of Conservation range off County Road 546, north of Poplar Bluff.
To get there, take Highway NN north until you see the sign at CR546.
As always, registration and shooting will begin at 8 a.m., and you’ll be able to start the 20-target course any time up until noon.
The event is open to the public, and the cost to shoot will be $10 for fun-class participants or $15 for trophy-class shooters. Children age 12 and under can shoot for free.
For more information, contact Brad Massey at 573-785-0647 or Tony Harwell at 573-718-7135.
Crappie fishing has turned on at Wappapello Lake, according to Charlie Brotherton at Sundowner Marine, who keeps close tabs on such things.
“I’m hearing a lot of good stories,” Brotherton said.
The crappie, Brotherton said, are “pretty much on the bank in about 6 feet of water.”
The water temperature is around 65 degrees, give or take a little, so spawning should be taking place.
If you want to take part in a crappie tournament for a good cause, the Poplar Bluff Lion’s Club will host a “Fishin’ for Vision ’21” tournament Saturday at Wappapello Lake.
The event will be based out of the Chaonia Landing Marina, with fishing scheduled to start at 6:30 a.m. and concluding at 3 p.m.
The Lions Club Facebook page has more information on the event.
Finally, you may have heard about a special visitor to Poplar Bluff last week.
Apparently, there was a young black bear who decided the grassy hillside behind the TAG Truck Center on the north end was a comfortable sleeping spot.
Keith Woolard noticed the bear on the afternoon of April 4 and got a few cellphone photos of it sleeping before it walked up the hill and into some trees to hide.
This isn’t the first time a black bear has been seen on the city’s far north end. About 20 years or so ago, another bear made his home around the County Road 527 area before eventually leaving the region.