Cole County hunters harvested 394 turkeys during the spring turkey season, while Callaway County had a harvest of 710, the third highest in the state.
The state's two top harvest counties during the spring turkey season were Franklin with 996 and Texas with 879.
The state Department of Conservation says hunters killed slightly more than 42,220 turkeys during Missouri's spring season, which ended Sunday. That's up 4 percent from 2012.
Hunting conditions were not great, with frequent rain and below-average temperatures during much of the three-week season. But the turkey population was strong after two good years of reproduction.
Todd Houf, Callaway County conservation agent, said Callaway County attracts many turkey season hunters because of its wide availability of natural cover and food sources for turkeys.
Houf said Callaway is a large county compared to many other counties and it also has unusually large public areas for hunting. They include the Whetstone Creek Conservation Area near Williamsburg and the Reform Conservation Area near the Callaway Energy Center southeast of Fulton. Both areas are managed by the Missouri Department of Conservation. The county also has large areas of U.S. forest land. The Mark Twain National Forest has more than 12,000 acres in Callaway County.
"We also have a lot of good turkey hunting on private property in Callaway County," Houf said.