Wild turkeys

Those of us who get to enjoy the great outdoors – hunting, hiking, fishing or just having fun in the woods and on the water – have much to be thankful for. While our country and our planet have plenty of environmental concerns, there are also many success stories of conservation and preservation.

One of those great achievements is the restoration of wild turkeys in Missouri. Thanksgiving is a great time to reflect on the history of turkeys in the United States and in Missouri in particular.

While they may have been plentiful in the country when the pilgrims and native Americans were celebrating the first harvest feast, it is not likely that the big bird was on the menu. The same goes for candied yams, pumpkin pie and that jiggly cranberry thing.

Researchers believe that by the 1800s, 10 million turkeys called North America home. By 1950 their population was reduced to about 300,000 throughout the continent.

BIG LOSS IN MISSOURI

In Missouri the decimation was similarly significant, from about 250,000 birds in the late 1800s to an estimated population of 3,000 only 60 years later. Those survivors were isolated in the most remote regions of the Ozarks.

Unregulated market hunting put the biggest hurt on the populations, but habitat destruction took its toll. Timber was clear-cut, open grazing mowed through remote forests, and people staked their claims to land that had previously been mostly unmolested.

As early as 1925, efforts were made to limit the decline in Missouri by restocking the population with farm-raised birds. Those efforts were not successful, and it was determined that only true wild turkeys would survive and thrive. In 1937 voters approved establishing the Conservation Commission, and turkey hunting was prohibited in the state.

Trapping and relocating began in the 1950s after the Department of Conservation purchased large tracts of land for collecting birds and provided protection for them to survive in different parts of the state. By the spring of 1979, turkeys had been moved to 142 areas in 87 counties. Since then Missouri has provided turkeys for restoration efforts in other states.

HUNTING RETURNS

Turkey hunting season returned in the April 1960 for three days in 14 counties. By 1985, restoration efforts allowed hunting in all 114 counties in the state.

Firearms hunting seasons are held for three weeks in the spring, with hunters permitted to take two male turkeys, and the entire month of October in the fall with a limit of two birds. Archers can harvest two turkeys of either sex throughout the bowhunting season between Sept. 15 and Jan. 15.

There are six subspecies of wild turkeys across North America, and Missouri is home to the Eastern subspecies. Related to pheasants, grouse and quail, turkeys are the largest wild birds on the continent, with adult males weighing up to 30 pounds and hens closer to 10 pounds.

Male turkeys are called toms in general, but further classified at gobblers as adults and jakes as juveniles. This time of year the gobblers group together while the jakes hang mostly with the flocks of hens.

During the spring, winter flocks disperse and gobblers battle each other for breeding opportunities. Hens make nests and lay clutches of up to a dozen eggs that they incubate for about 28 days. After they hatch, the hen provides all the protection she can from predators and poor weather.

DOMESTIC VS. WILD

The turkeys that most people will enjoy for their Thanksgiving Day feasts will only slightly resemble the wild birds

The restoration of wild turkeys in Missouri and across the country is one of many reasons to be thankful throughout the holiday season. – National Wild Turkey Federation photo

in Missouri. While the grocery store variety are bred and raised for incredible size and roundness, wild turkeys are more slim and streamlined. The feathers on wild turkeys are often bright and colorful. Domestic birds look significantly less appealing on the outside.

Wild turkeys are susceptible to disease transmission from domestic fowl, but fortunately wild and domestic birds rarely come in contact with each other. Releasing domestic birds into the wild is illegal, in part to protect the wild turkeys from disease.

The opportunites to enjoy the great outdoors and spend time among our natural resources are certainly good reasons to be thankful this time of year and always. Happy Thanksgiving!

John J. Winkelman is manager of marketing and sales at Liguori Publications. If you have news for Outdoor Guide Magazine, e-mail ogmjohnw@aol.com and you can follow

John on Twitter at @johnjwink99.

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Photo and Text By BRENT FRAZEE

When I was a little guy, I took my first true adventure. There was a pond back in the woods near our house, the neighbor kids told me. It was hard to get to, with no path leading the way. You had to fight your way through some brush and trees, but it was worth the effort, they said.

There were fish as big as logs hanging out in the shallows. And they had hardly ever seen a lure.

I wanted to find out. So I talked one of the ringleaders of our group into letting me

Outdoor Guide November-December 2020 Finding adventures in some odd places

tag along. I grabbed my dad’s old tacklebox – not the new one where he kept his mostprized lures – and got my fishing rod and headed out. The hike wasn’t nearly as difficult as my friends described. After about 15 minutes, the woods opened up and I set eyes on this magical fishing hole.

We spent the rest of the day casting our lures into holes in the vegetation and catching fish. I even caught a 16-inch bass that became the envy of our small band of fishermen.

I eased it back into the water, mainly because I didn’t have a stringer, and we headed back, satisfied that we had found adventure in our everyday surroundings.

THE ESSENCE

OF EXPLORING

I often look back on that experience and realize that I discovered the true essence of

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Frazee finds adventure in a subdivision lake near his house in Parkville MO.

outdoors exploration that day.

It doesn’t have to involve rafting a whitewater river, climbing a snow-capped mountain, hiking into a foreboding rainforest or hunting in some far-away wilderness.

Adventure is what touches our individual soul. It’s discovering the unexpected, whether it be in some faraway wilderness or a hidden jewel on the outskirts of town.

We spend so much time daydreaming about adventures featured in the outdoors magazines that we forget to really explore what is around us.

I remember doing a story on a bow hunter who lived on the edge of Kansas City, Kan. He had taken many wide-racked bucks and I assumed he was going to tell me a tale about traveling to some private land miles away. Instead, he took me to his backyard, where a short ways into a patch of timber, he had a tree stand set up.

“A lot of people think you have to be out in the middle of nowhere to shoot a big buck, but I stand a better chance here,” he told me. “This is the only timber around, but it goes quite a ways. These city deer get comfortable here. They aren’t hunted real hard, and they aren’t going to move.”

LARGEMOUTH SURPRISE

I too have found adventure in unexpected places. I remember stopping at a lowwater crossing on a stream along a neighborhood road I frequently travel. For most of the year, the creek carries not much more than trickle of water. But it had been raining that spring, and that was enough to put water into a pool beneath a riffle.

I looked down to see a big bass and a school of its smaller counterparts circling that pool. I rushed to get one of the fishing rods I always carry in the back of my Jeep and made a few casts. When I passed my grub in front of the leader of the pack, it immediately struck and I had a fight on my hands.

That bass weighed five pounds, and for a while, was the biggest largemouth I had ever taken. I kept that fish to have it mounted, primarily to remind me of the day I caught a trophy bass in a totally unexpected setting.

THE LIST GOES ON

Even during this year filled with COVID-19 restrictions, when travel has been reduced, I have found excitement in the nearby outdoors.

I have hiked trails that led to a beautiful waterfall and to a meadow where I saw a hen turkey and her poults feeding on insects in the Parkville Nature Sanctuary, and I have caught blue catfish out of the Missouri River, both not more than a couple miles from my home in Parkville, Mo.

In magazines bearing covers with teasers that scream, “I survived a grizzly attack” or “How to survive in the wilderness,” those adventures would seem pretty tame. But to me, they were special nonetheless.

Yes, I still have my bucket list of adventures I’d like to complete before I die. I still want to fish for peacock bass in Brazil, catch a big tarpon in Costa Rica, land giant walleyes in Canada and pursue giant bass in California.

But until that happens, I’ll continue to pursue adventure close to home. Maybe it isn’t glamorous, but it’s still enough to get me excited.

HUNTING

Benton County, MO Hunting Whitetail Deer • Turkey • Waterfowl • Squirrel Rabbit • Dove • Quail are abundant around Truman Lake and Lake of the Ozarks. With over 100,000 of acres of public land to hunt, you are sure to get that trophy buck or turkey. Be sure to check for permits and regulations on the species you are hunting at https://huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/.

and FISHING

Truman Lake is a sprawling 55,600-acre reservoir offering excellent fishing for • Bass • Crappies • White Bass • Striper • Bluegill • Catfish • Spoonbill The great outdoors are open to the public. Benton County is a fisherman’s paradise with 55,600 acres of Truman Lake fishing and 54,000 acres of Lake of the Ozarks fishing in Benton County! Independent fishing and hunting guides available year-round. Benton County really does have it all! HIKING • BIKING • SHOPPING • DINING • BOATING • ATV TRAILS • EVENTS/FESTIVALS

FOR MORE INFORMATION, GO TO WWW.VISITBENTONCOMO.COM AND “LIKE” BENTON COUNTY TOURISM AND RECREATION ON FACEBOOK 660-438-2090 • lstokes@visitbentoncomo.com #LoveMyBentonCoMo EXPERIENCE THE GREAT OUTDOORS WHILE SOCIAL DISTANCING #BentonCoMoCares For current safety guidelines in Benton County, please visit the Benton County Health Department’s website at BentonHealth.org. Face masks and hand sanitizer are available at the Warsaw Chamber of Commerce during regular business hours before you begin your adventure. Supplies are limited and only one per person.