Turkey hunting makes memories across Missouri

A light rain on Monday morning dampened the hopes of many Missouri turkey hunters as the three-week regular season opened. It was unlike the opening day of the Youth Weekend Turkey Hunt, when the weather was near perfect for the young hunters.

The young hunters -- ages 6 through 15 -- checked 4,332 turkeys during the two-day youth turkey hunting season.

The strong turkey harvest can be attributed partly to the carry-over of adult birds resulting from good turkey reproduction in 2011 and 2012. The favorable weather during the mornings also helped set a record harvest for the youngsters.

Cedar County had the second highest total in the youth hunt with 96 bearded birds checked. Only Franklin County had more, with 107 turkeys checked.

Of Cedar County's turkey, 74 birds were adult gobblers, one bearded hen and 21 juvenile birds. Vernon County had 51 turkeys checked, 41 of which were adult gobblers and 10 of which were juveniles.

The state's only other 4,000-plus youth season harvest was in 2012, when the young hunters checked 4,319 turkeys.

The young hunters were allowed to take one bearded bird during the youth hunt. Those who took a bird may not take a second turkey until the second week of the regular spring season, which opened Monday.

The Conservation Department's First Turkey Program is a great way to memorialize a hunter's first successful turkey hunt. The program provides a free commemorative certificate, suitable for framing. You can even add a photo of the proud hunter with his or her bird.

Creating a tangible reminder of a once-in-a-lifetime experience begins with visiting mdc.mo.gov/node/10469. The same site has forms for a hunter's first deer for adults and youths.

The early morning rain on opening day didn't deter many hunters, including Kevin Hess, president of the Springfield Sho-Me Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation.

Hess said, "When I left Springfield, it wasn't raining, but when I got to my hunting spot, it was pouring down. I never heard a gobble and got soaking wet the first several hours of the morning, but I went back in the woods and saw this big turkey drop over a ridge.

"I moved within 50 yards of where I saw the bird go down the hill and set up. After making a couple calls, the big bird answered.

"Minutes later, he appeared within 30 yards and I had a 25-pound gobbler to start off the season. I have killed the majority of turkeys between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. I think I have only taken one of every 10 roost birds I get on."

The Springfield turkey hunter uses several types of calls made by the Ozark Ridge Calls, Lebanon. His favorite is a raspy mouth call, but at times, he uses slate and box calls.

He said, "In my vest, I have just about everything."

Hess was hunting in Polk County, where he has taken turkeys before. He recalled his first turkey back when he was just 6 years old.

"You never forget that first bird," he said. " It was in the fall, I was hunting with my dad, in Laclede County. It was a young bird, but it looked really big to me."

It's a family thing with Hess. His daughter, Hanna, 11, got her first turkey during the recent Youth Hunt. It was weighed 21 pounds.

She had been with her father and decided she wanted to try her luck this year.

Hess' son, Zach, a student at Strafford High School, has taken turkeys as well during past Youth Hunts, but he is now 16, so he will be out this weekend with his father after another big bird. Zach got his first bird when he was 6 years old. It weighed 23 pounds and had five beards.

Hess said, "It was a $400 bird, he had it mounted."

Hess has hunted turkeys in other states, including Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Mississippi and New Mexico. The largest gobblers he has taken weighed 26 1/2 pounds -- one in Kansas and one in Missouri.

On Tuesday, I shot my 129th turkey since the season opened back in 1960. It was a 28-pound gobbler.

Hunters in Vernon County checked 63 bearded birds on the opening day of the spring regular season. Statewide, hunters took 5,913 turkeys.

With a three-week season, the growing number of turkey hunters in Missouri has a lot to look forward to this spring.