THE WEEKEND HUNTER: TURKEY RESTORATION IS SUCCESSFUL

For the Eastern Wild Turkey, history in Missouri started in the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Around the year 1820 the estimated population of the wild turkey in Missouri was around 250,000 birds.

Then started the wholesale cutting of timber, clearing large tracks of land. The clear-cutting and burning of thousands of acres allowed open range to occur and introduced the feeding of livestock to these areas along wood lots.

Eighty years later, when the year 1900 rolled around, the estimated wild turkey population had declined to 50,000 birds, but the decline was far from over. During this time open-market hunting was taking place and had a big impact on the wild turkey population.

An additional 52 years had now passed as we entered 1952 with the estimated wild turkey population at 2,500 birds in the state of Missouri existing only in small concentrated areas. But, Missouri was lucky; we still had a small turkey population. Some of the other states did not.

So the restoration of the turkey begins with the Missouri Department of Conservation. It started with crude box trapping of wild turkeys. On a good day one might be caught. Finally they had enough wild turkeys to breed, and the MDC started raising the young turkeys for release. But it would not take long for the MDC to figure out that this was a wasted effort.

When raising young wild turkeys, the wild instinct is lost. So when the turkeys were taken to the release sites, they would stay around for days in the spots where they were released, and the predators would just start picking them off. Their survival instinct was lost.

A new invention used with waterfowl came to be the key for the restoration success of the Missouri wild turkey. The Canon Rocket Net was successfully used in 1954, with three trapping sites in Missouri and Peck Ranch Wildlife Area the main location. The birds where then checked out and placed in small wooded crates and transferred to release sites in Missouri. The 25 birds or less were released at one time, with five to 10 of the birds being gobblers and the rest hens.

The Missouri Department of Conservation had site release selection criteria. The area had to have public support and 15,000 wooded acres.

Later in the restoration process the department found out that the 15,000 wooded acres requirement could be less. Also the site had to have adequate habitat. These are mast, forage and water. The final requirement was protection from being hunted.

From 1954 to 1960 Missouri had nine release sites. From 1960 to 1970 the number of release sites increased to 43. Release sites became statewide from 1970 to 1980. From 1954 to 1984, after 30 years of restoration, the number breaks down to:

Birds Trapped 5,340

Restocked 2,642

Release Sites 213

Counties 91

Also, the success was so great that Turkey Trade was taking place with Missouri trading with 11 surrounding states for other game animals.

Allen Morris' two signature Web sites are South Missouri Sportsmen's Information Network and The Weekend Deer Hunter Web Site.