After a few days of Missouri’s spring turkey season, a couple things stand out.
First, harvest numbers are up across the board in our local counties, and the statewide tally also is well above last year.
Secondly, the birds haven’t been gobbling a whole lot.
Statewide, the harvest as of mid-day Wednesday was 11,347 birds, up quite a bit from the 9,674 taken during the same period a year ago.
Part of the reason for the increased harvest is likely because there are simply more people hunting since so many people are off of work because of the COVID-19 thing.
Locally, every county’s total is up, and some quite significantly.
Wayne County leads the region with 90 birds taken so far, up from 60 last year.
Stoddard County is a close second, with 85 birds killed. Last year, hunters took 71 gobblers during the first three days.
In Ripley County, hunters have taken 57 birds so far, compared to 40 last year.
In Carter County, the tally is up to 49 birds. During the first three days of the 2019 season, hunters there took 34 turkeys.
Butler County hunters have tagged 32 gobblers so far, up a bit from the 25 taken last year, and in Dunklin County, three turkeys have taken a ride home with a hunter. Last year, a single bird fell during the first three days there.
Hunters in Reynolds County have taken 46 birds to this point. Information on last year’s total wasn’t available, but Reynolds County likely is following the same trend this year as everyone else.
Based on what I’ve heard myself and reports from others, gobbling has been a bit sporadic. Opening morning wasn’t too bad, but Tuesday was early quiet.
I did get a report of lots of gobbling Wednesday morning, which was overcast. I wouldn’t have guessed it, but the person who reported it is always right on the money when it comes to turkey hunting.
It seems most gobblers have plenty of hens with them, so they’re needing a lot of work to seal the deal.
The season continues through May 10, and if the weather doesn’t get too bad for an extended period, we just may end up with a better harvest than anyone would have guessed.
Lake and river levels around the region look to be pretty normal for a change.
Fishing has been pretty good, and I’ve seen some nice crappies caught at both Wappapello Lake and Pool 1 at Duck Creek. I haven’t seen reports from Clearwater Lake, but it should be just as good.
As the water warms, white bass fishing also should pick up as schools of the fish run upstream to spawn. Clearwater has a good population of nice-sized white bass, while Wappapello tends to hold fewer, smaller fish.
There were a couple fishing tournaments scheduled for Saturday on Wappapello Lake, but it looks like they won’t be happening.
The Wappapello Bass Circuit was to fish Saturday, but the event has been canceled.
The other event is the Wappapello Crappie’s Club’s Chris Sifford Memorial Tournament. I haven’t been able to reach any of the event’s organizers, but Charlie Brotherton at Sundowner Marine believes the tournament has been canceled or postponed.