April 15, 2004

Local Success Doesn’t Offset Statewide Decline During Youth Hunt

Local kids had better success in 2004, but overall the two-day special youth turkey hunting season April 10-11 saw lower success rates statewide.

Scotland County youths bagged 34 turkeys, up three birds from last year’s total. More than half the birds taken locally were adult turkeys with a 20/14 split of adults/juvenile birds.

No northeast Region county saw an increase of more than 6 birds taken in 2004, with more than half the reporting area experiencing double-digit declines. Ralls and Lewis counties each recorded 16 bird declines from their 2003 totals.

The statewide totals were down 402 birds from 2003 when youth hunters harvested a total of 4,062 turkeys.

Statewide more than 70-percent of the birds taken during the two-day season were adults.

Franklin County led the state with 83 turkeys checked in. Last year’s top county, :aclede, fell to second place with 62 just ahead of Osage County’s 61-bird harvest.

In the Northeast Region, Macon County was tops with 49 birds followed by Adair County (38) and Clark County (36).