June 2008 Updates page 4
9 June
2008 Spring Turkey Update
This spring, 302 hunters were able to hunt with MAHA on 230,000 acres of private land in Missouri, Kansas and Iowa, which was a total average of 761 acres per hunter. The 2 month season opened April 1st and closed May 31st. For the first time, the total number of hunters in Kansas exceeded the number in Missouri with 176 in Kansas, 169 in Missouri and 19 in Iowa. Sixty hunters hunted 2 states and 3 hunted all three states.
Above average rainfall and below average temperatures were common during the 2008 spring turkey season. Having the flexibility to relocate and choose from a variety of farms in different regions was to the advantage of many hunters that got caught in the rain.
A lot of determined members filled 4 tags, while several had unfortunate luck day after day. As a whole, north Missouri and southern Iowa have had 2 consecutive bad turkey hatches, but we do have scattered pockets within those regions with very good turkey populations. At least 100 farms in north Missouri and southern Iowa never had a turkey hunter step foot on the property. The majority of these farms were 40 to 160 acre tracts of land. We estimate close to 90% of all of our leased land in northern Missouri and southern Iowa have turkey on them at one time or another during the year.
The largest bird reported was 29.6 lbs. with a 13” beard and 1 5/8’s inch spurs and several other 25 plus pound toms. The county least hunted was Kiowa, Kansas and the county most hunted was Atchison, Kansas.
We did not have a single complaint all season from a landowner or neighboring landowner, which says a lot for the quality of the hunters in our organization. As we continue this trend, our lease renewal and land referrals will come much easier, which benefits us all.
The new friendly voice on the phone this spring was Leslie. She enjoyed taking reservations and talking to all of the hunters. She’s looking forward to the fall and encourages anyone with questions to call her at the office from 9 until 5:30 Monday thru Friday.
A memory that will last forever.
Have a great summer, Leslie, John, Jon and Shaun!
