Mo. hunters kill fewer turkeys in spring season

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri hunters killed fewer turkeys this spring - a result that state officials link partly to unfavorable weather during the three-week season.

The Missouri Department of Conservation says hunters reported killing 38,328 turkeys during the regular spring season from April 18 through Sunday. That's down 9.3 percent from last year.

Department scientist Jason Isabelle says the smaller kill is due partly to a decline in Missouri's turkey population.

But Isabelle also notes the cool, rainy, windy conditions that prevailed during the season. He says male turkeys gobble less in stormy weather, making them harder to hunt. Nasty weather also discourages some people from going hunting.