AGENT ADVICE

Well folks, the time is upon us: Spring Turkey Season. While there has been some misinformation circulating that turkey season has been suspended or canceled, all hunting and fishing seasons, limits, methods, and permit requirements are still in place!
Turkey hunting is a very intense and exciting time, and because of that, it is very important that everyone stays safe. The simplest thing you can do when heading out to bag a turkey is follow the four rules of firearm safety: (1) Always keep your muzzle pointed in safe direction. This can be the ground, the air, or another direction, but never point a firearm at anything you are not willing to destroy! (2) Treat every firearm as if it were loaded, even if you know that it isn’t. (3) Always be sure of your target and what’s beyond it. Especially during turkey season, it can be hard to 100% identify your target. Turkeys walk through brush and other obstacles, and can often be obscured. Make sure you know what you are firing at and that it is in a safe direction. Finally, (4) keep your finger outside the trigger guard until you are ready to fire. This helps to prevent accidental or excited discharges. Hopefully, if you have followed your other firearm safety rules, an accidental discharge would still go in a safe direction, but no one wants to take that chance!
Beyond firearm safety, here are a few other safety tips for turkey season. When transporting your harvested turkey or a decoy, make sure you carry it in a bag or place some hunter orange somewhere on the bird. This will help distinguish you and your bird from a live bird moving through the woods.
Even if you don’t harvest a bird, it is a good idea to wear hunter orange as you move to and from hunting locations to keep yourself as identifiable as possible. Lastly, whether you are turkey hunting, mushroom hunting, or simply going for a walk in the woods, make sure to not wear blue, red, or white colored clothing during turkey season. While you may follow all the safety rules to the ‘T’, others may not, and these are colors that excited hunters may shoot at without properly identifying their target.
Always remember, a successful hunt is a safe hunt!
Finally, make sure to pick up the 2020 Spring Turkey Hunting Pamphlet at your local MDC office or online at https://mdc.mo.gov/.
If you have any questions or concerns over regulations such as the Telecheck process, limits, hours, or methods, you can call me at (573) 248-9383 or call your contact your local Agent.