SPRING TURKEY HUNTERS BAG OVER 38,000 BIRDS

JEFFERSON CITY -- Missouri hunters have shattered their turkey harvest record, taking 1,967 more gobblers than ever before in a spring hunting season and leaving turkey management experts to ponder a wildlife management paradox.

The 14-day season, which ended at noon May 1, offered hunters almost ideal spring turkey hunting conditions. Cool nights and sunny, windless days during the first week of the season enabled them to take 26,537 birds. Although the second week of the season included some wet, windy weather, hunters still checked 11,381 turkeys, bringing the season total to 37,918. The previous record harvest took place in 1987, when hunters checked 35,951 birds.

Larry Vangilder, wildlife research biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), said he is always happy when hunters have a good season, but he is also worried that six years of below-average turkey hatches and strong harvests might erode the state's turkey population base.

He said it is difficult to be sure what the record turkey harvest means, in light of other data.

"We work hard to manage turkeys and other wildlife on a scientific basis, but to some extent it is an art, too," said Vangilder. "There still is quite a bit we don't know. For one thing, we don't know exactly how many turkeys there are. Our estimates are based on the interpretation of what data we do have."