Start Planning Spring Turkey Hunting Vacations

Interested in taking advantage of some of the best spring turkey hunting in the nation? Start planning your spring vacation. The Conservation Commission approved recommendations for the 2009 spring turkey season at their December 19th meeting.

The youth portion of the spring turkey season will be the weekend of April 4th and 5th. As in previous years, youth must be 15 years old or younger to participate. Youth will continue to have the option of hunting all day, a change that was first implemented last year. The youth spring turkey season offers a great chance to introduce youngsters to the outdoors. Missouri is a national leader in recruitment of new hunters, and opportunities for youth participation have been a key part of our success.

The regular spring turkey season begins Monday, April 20 and ends Sunday, May 10. Bag limits and hunting hours are unchanged from last year. Hunters may harvest two birds but only one turkey can be taken the first week of the season. This regulation has proven very successful in distributing first-week hunting pressure and harvest.

While turkey populations have been affected by less-than-ideal nesting conditions the past few springs, Missouri continues to offer some of the best spring turkey hunting in the nation. Review the numbers in Missouri’s 2008 Wild Turkey Status Report.

Permit prices remain unchanged. Resident spring turkey permits are $17.00 and the non-resident permit cost is $175.00.

New MDC Holiday Video Card

Season's Greetings from Wild Missouri

Watch and enjoy 60 seconds of musical fun with deer a-leaping, otters a-sliding, eagles a-swooping and more in a new holiday video card from the Missouri Department of Conservation. It's an easy way to share holiday cheer and the beauty of outdoor Missouri with family and friends near and far. If you enjoy the video, feel free to pass this link on to others to spread a cheery conservation message this season. Happy Holidays!

Time to Prune Trees and Prepare for Wildfire Season

Winter is the best time to prune trees



During December, January and February, trees are dormant and aren’t using their energy to grow and reproduce. Take advantage of this annual “downtime” to shape and trim your trees. MDC’s “Basic Pruning Guidelines” shows you how to using pruning techniques to optimize your trees’ beauty, health and longevity. Browse our Web site’s Forestry section to learn more about conserving your landscape trees, woodlot or private forest.


Baby, it’s cold outside--but wildfire season is about to heat up



Shortly after the holiday season ends, the dry, windy days of early spring usher in Missouri’s wildfire season. Across the Show-Me State, thousands of acres of forest and grassland will burn. Most of these fires will be caused by human negligence or malicious arson.

MDC has a whole mini-site dedicated to helping you protect your land and property from wildfire. Use it to explore alternatives to burning, conducting safe prescribed burns, reducing fuel loads around your home and making your home and community “firewise.”

If you see someone misusing fire, call the Operation Forest Arson hotline at 800-392-1111. The program allows you to remain anonymous and rewards are possible.

More than 10,000 deer taken by muzzleloader

The conclusion of Missouri's deer muzzleloader season saw 10,239 animals taken.

During the season, which ran Nov. 28 through Dec. 7, hunters reported taking 2,679 antlered bucks, 1,519 button bucks and 6,041 does. View a county-by-county breakdown by deer type and season at this link.

Counting all seasons, 261,982 deer have been taken thus far in Missouri.

Deer muzzleloader season draws to a close December 7

If you have a muzzleloader, the time to get out your black powder and hunt deer in Missouri is drawing nigh.

Deer muzzleloader season ends December 7.

Through the morning of Friday, December 5, Missouri hunters had taken 5,571 deer by muzzleloader. A breakdown by deer type and county is available here.

Leading all counties so far are Jefferson (118), Franklin (115), Howell (104), Osage (101) and Callaway (101).

Jefferson County also leads in antlered buck (35) taken by muzzleloader.

Counting all hunting methods, 256,679 deer have been checked thus far.

Duck, goose hunting moving south as winter sets in

For duck and goose hunters, Missouri's northern areas may be mostly starting to freeze over for the season, but there are still good hunting opportunities in the Bootheel, as well as some central areas, such as Eagle Bluffs, Grand Pass and Otter Slough.

When wetland habitat in the middle zone freezes over, ducks take temporary refuge along the big rivers, said Frank Nelson, resource scientist based at the Open Rivers/Wetlands Field Station of the MDC.

"As soon as it warms back up, the ducks are back to the shallow wetlands, and there's good hunting opportunities," Nelson said.

"This year we have had a very gradual migration," he added. "Cold fronts have blown through the state about once a week through November. There hasn’t been one big migration event that has dumped a lot of birds in Missouri all at once."

While November has not brought the Bootheel the sort of rains that are typical for the area, because much habitat is artificially flooded, hunters should find good conditions.

Bootheel hunting areas should remain unfrozen for all but a few days during the duration of the season, which runs through January 25. Geese may be hunted there through January 30. For a complete list of zones and hunting dates, click here.

Don't count out the north zone just yet, Nelson said, as waterfowl continue to pass over the region and overnight on the open waters of rivers. Hunters can break ice in managed areas, such as Ted Shanks, to attract feeding ducks.

Here's a comparative look at duck numbers the past five seasons.