Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation shows turkey hunters checked 41,970 birds during Missouri’s 2023 regular spring turkey season, April 17 through May 7. The top regular season harvest counties were Franklin with 973 birds harvested, Callaway with 801, and Osage with 792.
The top regular season harvest counties in the Green Hills were Harrison with 684 birds harvested, Sullivan 621, and Putnam 603. Other Green Hills county totals were Daviess with 491, Mercer with 479, Linn with 445, Livingston with 418, Grundy with 322, and Caldwell with 309.
Young turkey hunters also harvested 2,566 turkeys over the youth weekend, April 1 and 2, bringing the overall 2023 spring turkey harvest to 44,536 – the highest harvest total since 2016.
“Stable, though still lower than the ideal, hatches each of the past three years and excellent spring turkey hunting weather likely contributed to this year’s higher harvest total,” said MDC Wild Turkey Biologist Nick Oakley. “The 2023 harvest was 23 percent higher compared to 2022 and it was 19 percent higher than the average over the previous five years.”
Last year, young turkey hunters harvested 2,894 turkeys over the spring youth season and hunters harvested 33,359 during the regular spring season for a 2022 spring season total harvest of 36,253.
Get more information on this year’s spring turkey harvest numbers by county at this link.
See more information on turkey harvest numbers for past seasons online at this link.
For more information about turkey hunting in Missouri, visit MDC online at this link.
