The Missouri Department of Conservation is requesting Missouri turkey hunters to share and submit feathers from harvested turkeys this upcoming hunting season.
Submitting turkey feathers this fall will help "improve research models used to monitor turkey population trends and estimate turkey numbers across the state," Joe Jerek, MDC news services coordinator said.
MDC requests feathers from turkeys harvested during the archery and fall firearms seasons. The archery season runs Sept. 15 through Nov. 10 and Nov. 22 through Jan. 15. Fall Firearms season runs Oct. 1-31.
To submit feathers, hunters will need to fill out a feather submission form on the MDC website to telecheck a turkey. Hunters will then be provided a postage-paid envelope for each telechecked turkey and instructions to submit the feathers.
The feathers that should be submitted are the ninth and tenth primary wing feathers and three to five breast feathers.
Any questions about the program can be submitted to [email protected].