The spring turkey harvest in Missouri, and the southeast region of the state in particular, continues to lag far behind what it did last year.
As of Wednesday morning, the statewide harvest was at 27,623 birds, compared to 33,831 at the same point in the season last year.
The potential good news is there always seems to be an uptick in the harvest in the last day or two of the season, but I’m not sure it’s going to be enough to match last year’s total.
I’ve consistently noticed for several years the birds start gobbling well in those last days, presumably because all the hens are off sitting on their nests and have left them alone.
It’s probably just wishful thinking, but maybe all the noisy road runners and call squawkers who don’t understand situational awareness have left them alone, too.
That doesn’t necessarily mean if you get on a gobbling bird that your hunt will be a slam dunk, but you should have a better than average chance.
As of Wednesday, the harvest in Butler County was a lowly 67 birds.
In both Ripley and Carter counties, hunters have managed to take 112 birds so far.
In Dunklin County, 17 birds have been taken so far, and in Reynolds County, the tally is up to 141.
Stoddard County hunters have tagged 175 gobblers, and Wayne County again leads the region with 186 turkeys killed.
The season closes at 1 p.m. Sunday.
With the rain from a few days ago, some of the area’s lakes and rivers have risen yet again.
Wappapello Lake, as of Wednesday morning, was sitting at 365.35 feet and rising very slowly. This time of year, the lake should be at 354.97 feet.
At Clearwater Lake, there wasn’t as much of a rise, and the lake now is at 499.87 feet, less than 2 feet above normal.
The Black River in Poplar Bluff crested Wednesday at 12 feet and is expected to fall to 7.6 feet by Sunday morning.
The St. Francis River at Fisk crested at 9.9 feet Tuesday evening and now is down to 8.45 feet.
Graphs of the Current River from the last few days look like a world-class roller coaster, with big swings both up and down.
At Van Buren, the river on Wednesday was at 6.87 feet, and at Doniphan, it was flowing at 4.67 feet.
If you’re a competitive bass angler, you might be interested in the Angler’s Choice tournament to be held Saturday on Wappapello Lake.
Based out of the state park, fishing is slated to begin at 6:30 a.m. and conclude at 3 p.m.
Ken Owens is the tournament director and can be reached at 573-820-3715.