Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation shows hunters killed 2,899 turkeys during Missouri's fall firearms turkey season, Oct. 1-31.
Top harvest counties were Greene with 100, Texas with 95, and Dent with 94, according to an MDC news release. Last year's fall firearms turkey harvest total was 3,698.
Figures for Mid-Missouri counties show hunters killed 27 turkeys in Cole County, 24 in Boone County, 39 in Callaway County, 62 in Maries County, 35 in Miller County, 12 in Moniteau County, 26 in Morgan County and 28 in Osage County.
"As was the case last year, this year's turkey hatch was exceptionally poor, so there were far fewer young birds for hunters to pursue this fall," MDC Turkey Biologist Jason Isabelle said in the news release. "Young turkeys are typically the most easily lured into hunters' calls, so poor production made for some challenging hunting this fall."
Isabelle also noted participation in the fall firearms turkey season has been declining in Missouri, as it has in a number of states.
"This year's fall firearms turkey permit sales total of 10,243 was the lowest on record since the season started in 1978," Isabelle said. "During our peak year in 1987, nearly 53,000 permits were purchased."
Another factor that impacted this year's fall turkey harvest was the good acorn crop throughout much of the state, which typically results in fewer turkeys being taken. When acorns are abundant, turkeys don't have to range far to locate food and spend less time in open fields where they're more visible to hunters, Isabelle explained.
This year marks the second year of poor turkey hatches in Missouri.
"Poor production the past couple years has certainly been a setback, but we've dealt with periods of poor production before," Isabelle said. "Turkeys can make a fairly quick rebound with a couple years of good production."
Fall archery turkey hunting continues through Friday, then resumes Nov. 22 through Jan. 15.