SPRING TURKEY SEASON OUTLOOK `FAIR'

JEFFERSON CITY -- The 1992 spring turkey harvest isn't likely to rival the record set in 1987, but with favorable weather it could top 30,000 says Missouri Department of Conservation Research Biologist Lay Vangilder.

Vangilder said there is a shortage of 2-year-old toms this year. He said this shortage will significantly decrease the quality of spring turkey hunting, because 2-year-old gobblers make up about 35 to 40 percent of the adult gobbler harvest.

"The 1990 hatch was 40 percent below average," said Vangilder. "Those are the birds we would normally expect to be the mainstay of this year's harvest. In addition, hunting conditions were good last spring, and hunters killed over 32,000 birds.

Seventy-nine percent of those birds were adults, so last year's harvest reduced even further the number of birds left from 1989 and earlier hatches. Hunters are going to hear significantly fewer birds gobbling this year as a result."

Vangilder said the shortage of mature gobblers is not confined to a few parts of Missouri. Hunters will feel the pinch statewide. Still, if spring comes early and hens are on the nest when turkey season opens, gobblers will be easier call. With favorable weather, this year's bag could total 30,000 gobblers.

That may sound disappointing to hunters who remember the 1987 season, when 35,951 toms were checked. But Vangilder points out that a spring harvest approaching 30,000 still inspires envy among hunters from most other states.

Vangilder said Missouri's turkey flock still is not in danger of catastrophic decline. The number of 2-year-old gobblers is low, but annual production depends primarily on the number hens in the population. Just as a flock of chickens needs only one rooster, Missouri's turkey flock can get along with a reduced number of toms as long as it has plenty of hens.

"Our flock still has the capacity to bounce back in a couple of years if they get a break from the weather," said Vangilder.