Missouri’s spring turkey hunters squeaked out a small 6-percent increase in the harvest over last year, but overall, the total for the season which ended Sunday still is the second lowest in 22 years.
“What helped us this year was better weather,” said Missouri Department of Conservation Resource Scientist Jason Isabelle. “We started out stronger than last year, which had poor weather.”
Southeast Missouri was the dark spot for the state’s overall harvest, Isabelle said, with other regions picking up the slack.
“The Southeast Region was the only administrative region in the state that saw a decrease, and it was down 1 percent,” he said.
In contrast, the Northwest Region saw an increase in its harvest of 18 percent and the Northeast Region was up 16 percent.
Locally, every county except Stoddard ended up well below last year’s numbers.
In Butler County, the harvest was 84 birds, compared to 110 last year.
“Hunting pressure was heavy, considering the number of turkeys available, particularly on public property,” said Butler County Conservation Agent Frank Campa. “The weather was challenging at times, but not bad overall, and the harvest was about what we expected locally.”
In Carter County, hunters killed 137 birds, a huge drop from the 204 they took there last year.
Ripley County hunters tagged 149 birds, short of last year’s 223.
Wayne County also saw a big harvest drop, from 335 birds last year to just 236 this spring.
Dunklin County hunters managed to kill seven turkeys, and even that was lower than the 10 taken there last season. Last year, Dunklin County had the unwanted distinction of having the lowest harvest in the state, but this year, they were eclipsed by their neighbor, Pemiscot County, where just two birds were killed.
As mentioned, Stoddard County was the only local one seeing a harvest increase, and hunters there barely did that. This season, they killed 192 birds, up just two from the 190 taken in the 2018 season.
No accidents were reported over the course of the season.
Hunter effort in many areas, Isabelle said, appears to have decreased over the last several years. Just more than 93,000 spring turkey permits were sold this year, compared to 130,000 in the early 2000s.
Turkey numbers remain low across the state, he said, and several factors are suspected as causes. Poor hatches the last several years mean there just aren’t as many birds out there, and the low reproduction rate could be the result of wet weather killing the poults or flooding nests, but I suspect its more likely because of heavy predation as the number of raccoons and other nest predators has skyrocketed. There is some talk of adult birds being affected by disease as well.
Still, Isabelle remains optimistic.
“Looking at the data, it seems like our poult-to-hen ratio is going in a cyclic pattern, and I’m hoping over the next few years the numbers will start increasing,” he said. “That’s my prediction.”
High Water
After a deluge of even more rainfall, both Wappapello and Clearwater lakes swelled earlier this week to their highest levels of the spring.
Wappapello Lake crested late Monday night at just above 378 feet, which is 18 feet higher than normal.
At Clearwater Lake, the rise was even more dramatic. It topped out early Wednesday at 528.49 feet, more than 30 feet above normal.
The Current River rose quickly last week, but it fell just as fast.
At Van Buren, the Current River crested early Thursday at 13.83 feet, below the designated 20-foot flood stage. In Doniphan, it crested early Friday at 15.2 feet, more than 2 feet above the 13-foot flood stage.
Unfortunately, it looks like more rain will blanket the area today and again on Saturday, so it’s unlikely the lakes will make much headway in falling back to normal for a while longer.
Tournament
Rescheduled
Because of the high water, the Angler’s Choice circuit decided to postpone its bass tournament, originally scheduled for Sunday, at Wappapello Lake.
The new tentative date for the event is Sept. 15.
The organization’s next tournament will take place on June 23.
Arkansas Waterfowl
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, in its most recent meeting, approved the Natural State’s waterfowl season dates and limits for the coming fall.
Waterfowl seasons in Arkansas will kick off with the early Canada Goose season, set for Sept. 1-30.
Also during September will be the early teal season, which is scheduled to run the entire 16 days allowed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Sept. 15-30.
Arkansas’ duck season runs statewide and divided into three segments. The first will take place Nov. 23 through Dec. 2, followed by another Dec. 11-23 and the final one Dec. 26-Jan. 31.
Special youth and, new this year - veteran hunts, will take place Dec. 7 and Feb. 8.
Goose seasons in Arkansas also are set in segments, the first of which, for snow, blue, Ross’s, Canada and white-fronted geese, will run Oct. 26-30. The second segment will run Nov. 23-Dec. 6 and the third will be Dec. 8-Jan. 31.
Arkansas also splits their Light Goose Conservation Order into four segments, and they’ll run Oct. 5-25, Oct. 31-Nov. 22, Feb. 1-7 and Feb. 9-April 25.
Daily limits will remain the same as last year, except only one pintail can be taken per day and two canvasbacks will now be allowed.
Another change applies to nonresident wildlife management area permits, which will be good for five days, but will only be available for certain dates.
Banquet Reminder
Don’t forget, Saturday is the date for the annual Three Rivers Buglers Big Game Banquet at the Black River Coliseum in Poplar Bluff.
The doors will open at 5 p.m. and all the usual games, raffles and auctions will be held.
Tickets can be purchased at Shooters Shack, Twisted Arrow, PB Outdoor Power Equipment or by calling Lenard Wagganer at 573-718-5030 or Rick White at 573-429-3967.