Turkey hunting hours extended to sunset on private land

Although it doesn’t feel like spring outside, maybe it would help to at least talk about warmer weather activities. For the first time in years, Missouri is making a significant change in its turkey hunting regulations, including confirmed adjustments in April and proposed modifications for the fall.

To allow hunters to hear about the changes directly from the state Department of Conservation scientists, a free, online program is available at noon on Wednesday, February 7. “MDC Wild Webcast on Talkin’ Turkey” will feature biologist Nick Oakley and habitat initiative coordinator Meagan Duffee-Yates.

The program will include information on hunting regulations changes and discussion about turkey production and harvest trends, brood surveys and research findings, habitat loss, and impacts of weather and predators on turkey numbers. Questions from webcast attendees will be welcomed as time permits.

Advanced registration is not required, so potential participants are asked to simply save the link provided by the conservation department and join the program when it begins. https://mdc.webex.com/mdc/j.php?MTID=m85090423505f6cd4b752e5b00ed6e5c2.

Beginning April 15 and concluding on May 5, turkey hunters on private land will be allowed to hunt from 30 minutes before sunrise until sunset. Previously hunting hours ended at 1 p.m. in the spring for adult hunters. The big distinction is the difference between hunting on private property, or any state or federally owned land where hunters will still be required to put their guns away at 1 p.m.

The conservation department press release indicates that 93% of land in Missouri is privately owned and 88% of the annual spring turkey harvest is on private land. Maintaining shooting hours ending at 1 p.m. on conservation areas and other public property supports afternoon activities by other users on those areas.

The primary goal was to provide additional hunting opportunities.

“Hunter participation and recruitment has been on the decline in Missouri for several years,” Oakley said in the press release. “When surveyed on why hunters aren’t participating, the most common answer is that school or work interferes with getting out into the field. Almost every other state in the Midwest and Southeast moved away from an early afternoon closing time after their turkey populations were restored. Those states have seen increases in hunter participation, sustainable increases in harvest, and stable hunter satisfaction after moving to an all-day season.”

The other specific that shouldn’t cause any confusion but likely will is the daily closing time. Most hunting seasons and the original proposal called hunting until 30 minutes after sunset, but for turkey hunting, shooting hours end when the sun goes down.

The proposed fall hunting season change eliminates the two turkey hunting tags that archers automatically receive with their deer hunting permit and will require hunters to purchase two tags that are valid for either archery or fall firearms hunting seasons. The proposal made no suggestion for eliminating the possibility of hunters taking birds of either sex in the fall.
“While hen harvest is contentious in Missouri, our hen-harvest-rate is low enough that it is not having a negative impact on turkey numbers on a statewide scale,” Oakley said. “That said, at the property level, hen harvest may have some impact on future production.”

A public comment period on the proposed changes to the fall season will be open from Feb. 2 through March 2.