Hunters checked 5,691 turkeys during Missouri’s fall firearms season


Missouri Department of Conservation News Release

Top harvest counties were Greene with 165 turkeys checked, Franklin with 163, and St. Clair with 160.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) announced that hunters checked 5,691 turkeys during Missouri’s fall firearms turkey season, which ran Oct. 1 – 31. Last year’s fall firearms turkey harvest total was 5,929 birds. Top harvest counties for the 2014 season were Greene with 165 turkeys checked, Franklin with 163, and St. Clair with 160.

Adult gobblers accounted for 964 of the harvest, or almost 17 percent. Adult hens accounted for 1,588 of the harvest, or almost 28 percent. Juvenile gobblers accounted for 950, or almost 17 percent, and juvenile hens for 2,189 or about 38 percent.

MDC sold 14,117 fall firearms turkey hunting permits for this past season, a 5-percent drop from last year.

The central region of the state saw about an 8-percent increase in harvest from 2013 with 759 birds. The Kansas City region dropped about 1-percent from 2013 with 681 birds. The northeast region dropped about 3 percent from 2013 with 588 birds. The northwest region dropped about 13 percent from 2013 with 477 birds. The Ozark region dropped by about 9 percent from last year with 784 birds. The St. Louis region harvest increased by about 9 percent from 2013 with 528 birds. The southeast region fell by about 15 percent from last year with 687 birds. The southwest region dropped by about 4 percent from 2013 with 1,187 birds harvested.

Fall archery turkey hunting continues until Nov.14 and then resumes again from Nov. 26 through Jan. 15, 2015.

For fall firearms turkey harvest results by county and type of bird, and other 2014 turkey harvest figures, go online to the MDC website at mdc.mo.gov/node/27845.