A YOUTH TURKEY SEASON IN MISSOURI: IMPLICATIONS TOWARDS RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION
Abstract: Responding to declines in hunter recruitment and retention, the Missouri Department of Conservation has provided a 2‐day wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) youth hunt that occurs on the weekend one week prior to the regular season. We assessed recruitment (the number of new participants) an...
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| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2005-01-01
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| Series: | Wildlife Society Bulletin |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2328-5540.2005.tb00333.x |
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| author | Jeff Beringer Joshua J. Millspaugh Ronald A. Reitz Michael Hubbard |
| author_facet | Jeff Beringer Joshua J. Millspaugh Ronald A. Reitz Michael Hubbard |
| author_sort | Jeff Beringer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract: Responding to declines in hunter recruitment and retention, the Missouri Department of Conservation has provided a 2‐day wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) youth hunt that occurs on the weekend one week prior to the regular season. We assessed recruitment (the number of new participants) and retention (the number of returning participants each year) of youth turkey hunters in Missouri from 1996–2004. Sales of youth tags increased from 6,168 in 1996 to 9,950 in 2000, 13% per year. After the initiation of a special youth hunt, the number of turkey tags sold increased about 18% per year between 2000 and 2004. From 1996–2000, about 6,700 turkey hunters were recruited compared with 12,300 from 2001–2004. The number of turkey hunters recruited from 2001–2004 represents about 10% of all Missouri turkey hunters. Since the inception of the youth turkey season, about 60–65% of recruited youths hunted at least one more year and about 25–30% hunted in 5 consecutive years. Based on hunter attitude data, 84% of youths hunted during the special youth season in 2005. In contrast to other youth activities, such as baseball which has seen national declines of about 41% over the same period and 5% declines for youth fishing, recruitment and retention of youth turkey hunters has increased in Missouri. While turkey permit sales to adult hunters have remained stable, permit sales to youth hunters have increased. We believe the special youth hunting season has resulted in an increased interest in turkey hunting by Missouri youth. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-aa9f528677d04a9f8404f3e7e66ecfff |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2328-5540 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2005-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Wildlife Society Bulletin |
| spelling | doaj-art-aa9f528677d04a9f8404f3e7e66ecfff2025-08-20T03:07:34ZengWileyWildlife Society Bulletin2328-55402005-01-012005S137538010.1002/j.2328-5540.2005.tb00333.xA YOUTH TURKEY SEASON IN MISSOURI: IMPLICATIONS TOWARDS RECRUITMENT AND RETENTIONJeff Beringer0Joshua J. Millspaugh1Ronald A. Reitz2Michael Hubbard3Missouri Department of Conservation1110 South College AvenueColumbiaMO65201USADepartment of Fisheries and Wildlife SciencesUniversity of Missouri302 Anheuser‐Busch Natural Resources BuildingColumbiaMO65211USAMissouri Department of Conservation1110 South College AvenueColumbiaMO65201USAMissouri Department of ConservationP.O. Box 180Jefferson CityMO65102USAAbstract: Responding to declines in hunter recruitment and retention, the Missouri Department of Conservation has provided a 2‐day wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) youth hunt that occurs on the weekend one week prior to the regular season. We assessed recruitment (the number of new participants) and retention (the number of returning participants each year) of youth turkey hunters in Missouri from 1996–2004. Sales of youth tags increased from 6,168 in 1996 to 9,950 in 2000, 13% per year. After the initiation of a special youth hunt, the number of turkey tags sold increased about 18% per year between 2000 and 2004. From 1996–2000, about 6,700 turkey hunters were recruited compared with 12,300 from 2001–2004. The number of turkey hunters recruited from 2001–2004 represents about 10% of all Missouri turkey hunters. Since the inception of the youth turkey season, about 60–65% of recruited youths hunted at least one more year and about 25–30% hunted in 5 consecutive years. Based on hunter attitude data, 84% of youths hunted during the special youth season in 2005. In contrast to other youth activities, such as baseball which has seen national declines of about 41% over the same period and 5% declines for youth fishing, recruitment and retention of youth turkey hunters has increased in Missouri. While turkey permit sales to adult hunters have remained stable, permit sales to youth hunters have increased. We believe the special youth hunting season has resulted in an increased interest in turkey hunting by Missouri youth.https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2328-5540.2005.tb00333.xhunter attitudehunter recruitmentMeleagris gallopavoretentionwild turkey |
| spellingShingle | Jeff Beringer Joshua J. Millspaugh Ronald A. Reitz Michael Hubbard A YOUTH TURKEY SEASON IN MISSOURI: IMPLICATIONS TOWARDS RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION Wildlife Society Bulletin hunter attitude hunter recruitment Meleagris gallopavo retention wild turkey |
| title | A YOUTH TURKEY SEASON IN MISSOURI: IMPLICATIONS TOWARDS RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION |
| title_full | A YOUTH TURKEY SEASON IN MISSOURI: IMPLICATIONS TOWARDS RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION |
| title_fullStr | A YOUTH TURKEY SEASON IN MISSOURI: IMPLICATIONS TOWARDS RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION |
| title_full_unstemmed | A YOUTH TURKEY SEASON IN MISSOURI: IMPLICATIONS TOWARDS RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION |
| title_short | A YOUTH TURKEY SEASON IN MISSOURI: IMPLICATIONS TOWARDS RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION |
| title_sort | youth turkey season in missouri implications towards recruitment and retention |
| topic | hunter attitude hunter recruitment Meleagris gallopavo retention wild turkey |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2328-5540.2005.tb00333.x |
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