https://mdc.mo.gov/contact-engage/public-commenting-opportunities/turkey-regulation-changes
More non-resident discrimination.....take time to read the entire article. This is a feel good and nothing more. Non residents account for 8-9% of hunters and 10-13% of harvest. Those harvesting a second gobbler is biologically insignificant.
Thanks for posting. I gave my 2 cents worth in the survey.
Yep me too!
Making it a single bird for non res. would suck for me anyway! I can see it for public but if one has access why not let them shoot two, one and one or two on private?
I generally killed one and one, but the past two seasons all were on private.
With MO. season structure it is set up in favor of the resident already!
I have such a convenient way to hunt there, public or private I hope they do not limit me to one bird!
It's much easier to justify the out of state license fees and travel expenses for two birds instead of just one. MO will hurt their own pocket book with this measure.
Mo doesn't care about tag sales its just a drop in the bucket to the 1/8 cent sales tax income.
Half the experience and half the birds should be half the money.
Their own turkey hunters who hunt out of state will suffer as a result too. Because other states and hunters in other states will take notice and eventually respond with non-resident restrictions too. We've been watching this exact same thing play out for years.
Non-residents everywhere might as well be prepared for a future pricing structure of ~$300 for a single bird.
Missouri resident here. Obviously this isn't being proposed because of low turkey population, although it isn't what it used to be. Interesting stats, I hadn't seen before, but they didn't surprise me. Our one bird the first week has always made the nonresidents tend to show up the first weekend, then plan on staying until at least through the following Monday in hopes of filling both tags, exactly what the nonresidents survey shows.
Also the increase in the percentage of nonresidents is not surprising. We still have over the counter tags and a 2 bird limit. I'm not one of those hunters who have complained about nonresidents. That would certainly be hypocritical of me, even though I don't travel nearly as extensively as many do.
As for the remark that us Missouri hunters need to be careful because of retribution from other states, folks, we're late to the party. What I guess to be one of, if not the most common destination for our hunters is Kansas. Now one bird limit, limited draw. I wasn't able to hunt there this past Spring for only the second time in 30 years. Nebraska has limited numbers of tags as well. Oklahoma is one bird statewide. Mississippi has limited nonresidents to a draw for the first 2 weeks of the season, and I believe Arkansas is now one bird?
I also don't hunt all public anymore, and the area I live in is not a prime target for most people coming in from out of state anyway, but if I lived in the national forest counties closer to the border of Arkansas, I might be upset too.
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Neill after all that I can't figure if you are for or against the proposal?
Quote from: 3bailey3 on October 31, 2025, 05:27:37 PMNeill after all that I can't figure if you are for or against the proposal?
Sorry, I guess I didn't make it plain. I'm against it, while still understanding why some might favor it. What I have a problem with, truthfully, is people who promote restrictions on nonresidents just "because" even if it really doesn't affect them one way or the other.
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That is a great reply Neill and I so agree! I have hunted with a outfiffer the last 3 years but it is across from some public, In those 3 years I have only seen one resident hunting that public! It's a small tract but I have heard birds in there!
I told my wife years ago that I planned on hunting Missouri as long as my health allowed. I'll be 74 this spring and it will be my 40th consecutive non resident hunt. My log tells me that I've taken 2 gobblers about 50% of my hunts, and I've been shutout a couple times. Some years ago I wrote the conservation department when they raised the non-resident fees to $145. What I got then was a response that many Missouri residents don't feel that's enough.
I missed the comment period but I will be writing to Laura Conlee, the regulations committee chair. This proposal is so shortsighted from the economic and social standpoint. I hate to think of the thousands of dollars I've spent on my Missouri trips. I treasure the enduring friendships I've made with both locals and other non residents. Some of those friends partake in our Wisconsin turkey camp. Unlike the Missouri bureaucrats, we welcome our friends.
Missouri may as well print "Missouri-You're Not Welcome Here" on the non resident tags.
I fell in love with Missouri the moment I stepped foot in the Mark Twain as a 34 year old. I think 40 trips is a good number.
I can take a hint.
Will someone please post results when this is voted on.
It is official as of today. The Missouri Conservation Commission voted unanimously in favor of the non resident single turkey bag limit. Non resident license fee will be $243. Another one bites the dust......
Quote from: Meadow Valley Man on December 12, 2025, 03:27:23 PMIt is official as of today. The Missouri Conservation Commission voted unanimously in favor of the non resident single turkey bag limit. Non resident license fee will be $243. Another one bites the dust......
Is this effective spring of 26?
Quote from: Meadow Valley Man on December 12, 2025, 03:27:23 PMIt is official as of today. The Missouri Conservation Commission voted unanimously in favor of the non resident single turkey bag limit. Non resident license fee will be $243. Another one bites the dust......
Not doubting what you're saying, but can you post a link to this? I can't find anything on it. This is very disappointing.
Well that is some BS, sorry guys I guess me killing two birds a year for the past decade was too much for the MO. locals, sure was fun while it lasted!
In all seriousness I started turkey hunting in Missouri in the early to mid 90s, tags were 75$ and birds were thick!
I have great friends and good places to hunt there, public and private, so will most likely still go but it really sucks, as I will spend less time there with only one bird to hunt.
:TrainWreck1:
That sux's!
And the chain reaction continues! From the commission meeting presentation, only 30% of NR turkey hunters there even kill a single bird. So safe to say 10% or less kill two. Insignificant. Simply a feel good measure to appease resident hunters. Other states will take notice and react accordingly.
What this will cause is the first week to be EVEN MORE crowded. People like me, who'd go up opening weekend to hunt, so I could start hunting for bird #2 on Monday, are now more likely to go close to opening day to get our bird and be done. Now there is little to no incentive to go later in the season. Might as well go opening week as soon as possible when the majority of birds are alive!
They discuss in the commission meeting about not allowing non-residents to hunt the first week. Once they see they've caused more opening week pressure on public land with this regulation, that will likely be the next step.
What a time to be a turkey hunter!
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Housing is up 34% since 2019. New cars 25%, gas 36%, groceries anywhere from 30 to 65%, health insurance 25%
The list goes on and on and on... Why would anyone think that cost of a hunting license would not go up as well?
The cycle of hate regulations will keep going round and round until we virtually can only recreate where we live at this pace.
He limited me so I'll limit him can only go back and forth so long until it's all over with.
What will be next? Limiting people on good OOS job opportunities??
Also, states need to be careful of different regulations for public land vs private. It's as if people are forgetting the bigger money can and will just take over more private land if they can no longer hunt the public. This screws the residents also, probably even more
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I apologize for my fellow Missourians who failed to see the forest for the trees. In my opinion, only those who purchased tags this year should have been polled. The outcome might have been the same, but the way it was done, asking for public input, who's to say how many PETA members or just non-hunters in general responded?
The territorial BS is nothing new. I've experienced it in benign ways a few times myself, first time being in Mississippi on my first trip there in 1989 when I ran into an older gentleman checking his crawdad traps on public land. After he found out where I was from and what I was doing, he told me "I hope you go home with just what came here with, nothing!" I'm not sure how me turkey hunting, buying a nonresident license, buying gas and food at local establishments was stepping on his toes, but it obviously, in his mind, was.
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