As hunters head outdoors for spring turkey hunting in Missouri, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) reminds them of season dates along with new nontoxic-shot requirements for 16 more conservation areas.

Spring turkey hunting youth weekend will be April 6 and 7 with the regular spring season running April 15 through May 5.

Detailed information on spring turkey hunting is available in MDC's “2019 Spring Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information” booklet, available where permits are sold. Learn more about turkey hunting in Missouri at huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/turkey

Buy Missouri hunting permits from numerous vendors around the state, online at mdc.mo.gov/buypermits, or through the MDC free mobile app -- MO Hunting -- available for download through Google Play for Android devices or the App Store for Apple devices.

MDC now limits free landowner permits for deer and turkey hunting to only qualifying resident landowners and members of their immediate households age six years or older. Those who lease land no longer qualify for the free permits.

New Nontoxic Shot Requirements

MDC reminds turkey and other hunters that the Conservation Commission approved regulations in August 2018 requiring the use of nontoxic shot for all hunting with shotguns on 16 more conservation areas in addition to its existing 21 areas where nontoxic shot is required for all hunting with shotguns. The new regulation became effective March 1.

The 16 conservation areas are: Aspinwall Bend, Church Farm, Corning, Deroin Bend, Diana Bend, Franklin Island, Frost Island, Lower Hamburg Bend, Nishnabotna, Perry (Ralph and Martha), Platte Falls, Plowboy Bend, Thurnau (H. F.), Rose Pond, Rush Bottom, and Wolf Creek.

The 16 areas have been added to these 21 conservation areas that already require nontoxic shot for hunting with shotguns: B. K. Leach, Bob Brown, Black Island, Columbia Bottom, Cooley Lake, Coon Island, Duck Creek, Eagle Bluffs, Fountain Grove, Four Rivers, Grand Pass, Little Bean Marsh, Little River, Marais Temps Clair, Montrose, Nodaway Valley, Otter Slough, Schell-Osage, Settle’s Ford, Ted Shanks, and Ten Mile Pond.

Nontoxic Shot for Upcoming Dove Hunting

The Commission also approved regulations in August 2018 that requires the use of nontoxic shot, effective March 1, on the following 20 conservation areas managed for dove hunting: Bilby Ranch Lake, Bois D’Arc, Busch (August A.), Crowley’s Ridge, Davisdale, Harmony Mission Lake, Lamine River, Logan (William R.), Maintz Wildlife Preserve, Pacific Palisades, Park (Guy B.), Peabody, Pony Express Lake, Reed (James A.) Memorial Wildlife Area, Reform, Talbot (Robert E.), Truman Reservoir Management Lands (Bethlehem), Weldon Spring, Whetstone Creek, and White (William G. and Erma Parke) Memorial Wildlife Area.

Find more information about these and other conservation areas on the MDC website at nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places