By JIM FARIS
The Missouri Department of Conservation is reporting that Turkey Season's youth weekend, April 11th and 12th, saw hunters aged 6 to 15 harvest 5,255 turkeys. That's up from 4,449 birds bagged last year.
This year marks the 25th annual youth turkey hunt weekend, with an average of 15,500 hunters participating every year since 2001.
The top-performing counties were Osage, Franklin, and Gasconade, all in central to east central Missouri. Locally, Buchanan County totaled 9, Andrew 8, Clinton 12, Holt 17, and Nodaway 13.
Regular turkey season begins April 20th, and runs through May 10th.