Each spring I ponder the reason that they require Missouri hunters to end their daily turkey hunting by the one o’clock hour. Jeff Berringer an MDC resource scientist tells us the history behind careful timing that has regulated Missouri turkey hunters for many years. "In 1960 Missouri had a limited range of turkey. MDC transplanted Eastern Turkey populations in certain counties making an agreement with the land owners to cultivate those birds. In the early days of reintroducing turkey populations to Missouri, we did not want to bump hens from their nests. At the time it was more important for the small population to increase. The more hunters there were in the woods throughout the day the more they affected the number of poults that would hatch."

One of Missouri’s long standing turkey myths is that an incubating hen will always abandon her nest if disturbed from it. Hunters have seen displaced hens attempting to rebuild another nest out in the wild. Missouri Department of Conservation includes facts about this observed hen behavior in their turkey publications.

Sample studies conducted in the 1990's on Eastern Turkey habitats throughout Minnesota and Missouri found most turkey hunters are in the woods during the first two weeks of spring season. Even now the large number of hunters present in the woods during Missouri’s early spring turkey season does not discourage hens from nesting. This is because during that time the hens are not incubating yet. Eastern hens generally take about two weeks to lay their clutch of nearly a dozen eggs. Then they will sit on the nest to incubate their eggs for about 28 days. This generally begins a few weeks after breeding.

According to the National Wild Turkey Federation hens return to their nests daily to lay an egg, with continuous incubation beginning when they lay the last egg. This ensures that all chicks will hatch about the same time, despite when the hen laid the egg.

Elsa Gallagher an NWTF member has hunted Eastern turkeys from Missouri public land several years now. She says, "The best thing about Missouri’s spring turkey hunting is that I am usually out of the woods with my bird by 10:00 a.m. For her, the fun of turkey hunting is hearing them and going after them. She says, "It is such an interactive sport." She has learned that pursuing a gobbler when he calls is more productive than sitting and waiting.

Interestingly enough, until 1986 in Missouri the shooting ended at 12:00 p.m. In 1987 they extended that time to 1:00 p.m. Missouri turkey hunters are not alone in complying with time limited hunting seasons. One example is the state of Illinois where their conservation department does impose a 1:00 p.m. time limitation for harvesting spring turkey. In particular Illinois has a one o’clock hour stop hunting regulation for turkey hunting while they restrict morel mushroom hunting until after 1:00 P.M. during the spring turkey season. The allocation of these resources protects participants in both spring activities insuring that they are not occupying the woods at the same time.

"Today," Jeff Berringer says, "it has become a tradition with the Missouri turkey hunters who have gotten used to a half day hunt in spring turkey seasons."

I asked, "Is there a future possibility of changing that length to a full day throughout the spring season?" His response was, "We have considered it every year asking hunters about their preferences." I asked which he preferred. "I like to hunt like most turkey hunters do. I would rather get up early and call a bird off the roost and rouse him in the morning. I have hunted turkey during morning hours in this state and all day in other states. In the afternoon it gets too hot to enjoy the hunt and most birds are quiet. I suppose if I had an opportunity to pursue an active turkey in the afternoon while I happened to be out crappie fishing I would do so."

Jeff also stated, "We have found that there has been a gradual acceptance for an all day spring turkey season. Individuals who have to work mornings prefer an evening hunt. Some have even stated that they can only hunt weekends and would take advantage of hunting all day on weekends. Other hunters would just like the freedom to chase a gobbler in the afternoon when the fish are not biting and the turkeys start gobbling."

Ladies this Monday April 24^th will open Missouri’s regular turkey season. Most hunters are planning to be in the woods before dawn and we will most likely remain there until we bag a tom or until the one o’clock hour which ever comes first. Remember to share your turkey harvest photos with us.