As dawn gently filtered through the treetops, hunter Tory Smith crouched patiently by the bole of an enormous oak.
From time to time, he recreated the yelping of a wild turkey hen. A mixture of clack and screech, the sound resembles a more pleasant version of nails on slate. Each time Smith yelped, a male bird - known as a tom - responded with a gobble.
Would Smith's sound effects be enough to entice the bearded tom closer?
Maybe. Maybe not.
After an hour of careful, but ultimately fruitless chit-chat with the bird, Smith called off Tuesday morning's hunt.
"He probably has a few hens already," Smith lamented. "He's not interested in us."
For Smith, a 27-year-old resident of rural Boone County, the 2015 spring hunting season has been challenging. Only a few days remain this season, which started April 20 and ends Sunday.
"This year has been different," he said. "Where I typically see birds, I haven't seen any. I'm just seeing fewer overall."
Smith's experience likely reflects the wider circumstances of Missouri's turkey population.
Jason Isabelle, a turkey biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation, said Missouri's wild turkey numbers peaked in the early 2000s, but declined 30 percent by 2010.
"It's quite a drop," Isabelle agreed. "Especially north of the Missouri River."
What triggered the decline?
It's not due strictly to habitat loss, he said, noting the decline was too rapid for that. Instead, poor hatches - likely related to difficult wet and cold weather between 2007 and 2010 - helped push population figures down.
However, production in three of the last four years has improved enough to stabilize turkey numbers throughout much of the state, Isabelle said.
Chicks survive best when days are dry and warm, he said.
"The numbers are not stable for long," he said, comparing the situation to a roller coaster. "You might have years of good production, followed by years of poor production. Population numbers are driven by the success of the spring hatches."
Missouri's turkey population has undergone a transition during the past several decades. In the 1970s and 1980s, as the recently-restored population expanded rapidly, people often reported seeing flocks that numbered into the hundreds. Production was extremely high as turkeys took advantage of vacant, highly suitable landscape.
The restoration of wild turkeys is "one of the greatest success stories in wildlife management history," Isabelle said.
But density led to other issues, such as problems with predators and disease.
"As they saturate the landscape, it drives rates down," he said.
Although the department hasn't yet released a final harvest count for the 2015 season, Isabelle said this year's harvest numbers are up slightly. And Missouri's turkey harvest is the highest of any state in the nation, he added.
"Compared to where we were last year at this same time, the harvest numbers are 4 percent higher," he said. "We've seen slow growth."
Regardless of the success of the hunt, both Isabelle and Smith said just the chance to be outdoors makes the experience worthwhile. In the dim morning light on Tuesday morning, the only sounds to be heard were the tapping of woodpeckers, the cooing of mourning doves and the drip of falling dew drops.
And, of course, the turkeys.
"I enjoy being outside in the morning, watching the woods wake up," Smith said. "And I get an adrenaline rush when the tom comes close and struts."
"Spring turkey season is just a fantastic time to be out in the woods," Isabelle said.