Kansas canceled its fall turkey hunting season. What does it mean for Missouri?
Missouri's spring turkey hunting season concluded Sunday. In four months, local archers will again be seeking gobblers for what they hope is a robust fall season.
Neighboring Kansas won't have that luxury.
The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks recently announced that its fall season will be canceled on account of a dwindling turkey population, the first time Kansas has canceled a season in the modern turkey-restoration era.
Kansas wildlife officials hope that cutting the fall season for the foreseeable future will help boost the population, which recently hit a 15-year low. Fall turkey season hunting participation in Kansas has also been reportedly low.
Kansas also imposed a one-turkey bag limit for the spring of 2024, similar to neighboring states Oklahoma and Nebraska, which also imposed stricter bag limits due to declining turkey populations.
Turkey population declines in the Great Plains states have been attributed to several factors by wildlife experts, including weather variables, disease, predators, habitat change, parasites and hunters.
Missouri, which has also seen a drop in turkey numbers in recent years, could potentially feel the effect of Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska turkey season changes.
"Regulation changes in neighboring states could have any of a number of impacts on Missouri," said Nick Oakley of the Missouri Department of Conservation. "Perhaps out of state hunters come to Missouri instead of the other states, though traditions like that are hard to break. I have not seen any indication that changes to other states' regulatory structure is having an impact on Missouri, though it is something that I am going to keep an eye on."
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States often face a balancing act of making sure hunter opportunity doesn't supersede the resources of a depleted turkey population, while also not alienating hunters — and potentially new hunters — by imposing strict season structures.
So would Missouri consider canceling a fall turkey season?
"Fall harvest is so low, largely driven by decreased interest and likely also by the increase in participation in other fall pastimes, that removing it would not have an effect on the statewide population," Oakley said. "So, we would be sacrificing a great opportunity to be out in the woods pursuing a traditional hunting pastime for little or no return. At this point, we are not strongly considering the removal of a fall season altogether, though it is something that we critically evaluate each year."
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Kansas cut fall turkey hunting season. What does it mean for Missouri?
