Unfortunately, the two regions have suffered through similar problems with recruitment, but the west's difficulties have been more pronounced. In 2005, the Ozarks West recorded a poult:hen ratio of 1.1. Even with 2006's predicted 1.6, hunters in this region will face a challenge this spring. Fortunately, hunters here are up for a challenge. In fact, Texas County is consistently among the state's best bets for spring gobblers.

OZARK BORDER REGION
The Ozark Border Region consists of Morgan, Benton, St. Clair, Hickory, Cedar, Polk, Dallas, Webster, Christian and Newton counties. As its name implies, this region's topography features fingers of the beginning of the Ozark uplift stretching out into a flat-to-gently-rolling landscape. In other words, it's the type of habitat in which turkeys should thrive.

Turkey numbers per acre of forested habitat are good throughout most of this region. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for recruitment the past two years. As if 2005's 1.3 poult:hen ratio weren't dismal enough, the projection for 2006 is 1.2. The good news for serious turkey fanatics is that plenty of mature toms strut and gobble in this region.

WEST PRAIRIE REGION
The West Prairie Region is a single band of counties along the Kansas border from Jackson County south through Jasper County. In addition, Lafayette, Saline, Pettis, Johnson, and Henry counties form an eastward thrust south of the Missouri River, and Lawrence, Dade, and Greene counties form a salient at the southern end of the region. Although a certain fraction of this region is dominated by forested hills, the greater part of it is flat-to-rolling open country interspersed with tree-lined rivers and small woodlots.

This is the state's only region to show no movement either up or down in turkey production during the 2005-2006 time period. The actual poult:hen ratio for 2005 was 1.2, exactly the same ratio predicted for 2006. Those figures notwithstanding, this region's turkey habitat is loaded with turkeys. Hunting in the West Prairie Region this spring should be much better than its statistics indicate.

This report may have begun on a sour note, but it isn't going to end on one. Every region in Missouri -- indeed almost every county -- offers excellent turkey hunting on public land managed by the MDC, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or some combination of those and, perhaps, other agencies. Some of these areas, like the Mark Twain National Forest and the Harry S. Truman Project (to name only two), are well known. Conversely, hundreds of smaller parcels of land, many of which are owned by the MDC, are known only to those hunters diligent enough to search them out.

Begin by using the spiral-bound Missouri's Conservation Atlas and the agency's Web site to pre-scout the part of the state you're interested in hunting. Then spend as much time as possible in the field scouting and re-scouting as many Conservation Areas as possible, including those postage stamp-sized CAs that most hunters overlook. Finally, when you come down to the final decision as to where you'll hunt, never forget that you don't have to locate every gobbler in the county: You only have to find two birds in three weeks.