By JIM FARIS
The Missouri Department of Conservation is asking the public to help count the state's wild turkey population over the summer by reporting sightings through the Wild Turkey Brood Survey.
MDC's Turkey Biologist Nick Oakley said "We calculate the poult-to-hen ratio, the average number of poults observed per hen observed, from the turkey sightings submitted... This ratio can provide insight into the quality of the hatch that year, and we can look at trends in turkey production to predict how turkey abundance might change in the near future."
MDC has conducted the survey every year since 1959.
You can log your wild turkey sightings HERE.