Young hunters harvest more than 5,200 turkeys during Missouri youth season

FOX23 News at 9 p.m

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., (KBSI) — Young hunters harvested more than 5,000 turkeys during Missouri’s spring youth weekend, according to preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Officials said 5,255 birds were checked during the April 11–12 youth season. Osage County led the state with 121 birds harvested, followed by Franklin County with 119 and Gasconade County with 107.

The total marks an increase from 2025, when young hunters harvested 4,449 birds.

This year also marks the 25th anniversary of Missouri’s youth spring turkey hunting weekend. The program began in 2001 and has grown steadily, with nearly 16,700 youth permits sold this spring compared to about 4,000 in its first year.

The regular spring turkey season is scheduled to run April 20 through May 10, officials said.