Dexter, Missouri - Join the Lady 'Cats as they host the SCAA Softball Tournament to be played Monday, April 15th beginning at 4:30 p.m. with the Championship Game to be held on Tuesday, April 16th at 6:30 p.m. on Field B.   The Consolation Game for 3rd Place will be on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. on Field B.

Dexter will play Puxico on Field B and the Woodland Cardinals will be playing Bloomfield on Field C.  The winners of these two games will advance to play at 7:00 p.m. against #1 seed Bernie Lady Mules on field B and #2 seed Advance Hornets on Field C.  Game time for those games are at 7:00 p.m.

Good luck Lady Bearcats!

Submitted by
Dee Loflin, Manager/Writer SMT

Jefferson City, Missouri - According to the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), young hunters ages 6 to 15 years harvested 3,915 turkeys during Missouri’s 2013 youth spring turkey-hunting weekend, April 6-7. The total included 2,933 adult gobblers, 72 bearded hens, and 910 juvenile gobblers. Top harvest counties were Franklin with 106 birds checked, Greene with 77 and Callaway with 76.

In 2012, young hunters harvested 4,319 turkeys during the youth season with top harvest counties being Franklin with 119 turkeys checked, Osage with 93 and Callaway with 81. The 2011 total was 3,898. Youth had their first separate spring turkey hunt in 2001 with a total harvest of 2,530 birds.

The 2013 regular spring turkey season runs April 15 through May 5. For more information, get a copy of MDC’s “2013 Spring Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information” booklet where permits are sold, at MDC offices or online at mdc.mo.gov/node/4051.

If you bag a Turkey this year and would like the ShowMe Times to spotlight your kill, just send a photo, your name, County location of the hunt any pertinent information you would like us to share to news@showmetimes.com.

Good Luck this Turkey Season!

Dexter, Missouri - The Grant Street baseball park was filled with action Saturday as the T.S. Hill Middle School program hosted a four-team area tournament. The middle school teams from East Prairie, Dexter, Bloomfield and New Madrid County Central were on hand to increase their game count for the 2013 spring season.

"We just thought it was a great chance to get the teams together to compete against each other," said Dexter coach Kurt Lovelady. "It's more like we just scheduled games to play more than it is a big tournament."

Dexter 7 vs Bloomfield 8

The first game of the day slated two excellent team in the Bloomfield Wildcat and the Dexter Bearcat Middle School Teams.  The Bearcats finally got their bats rolling in the fourth inning as Mayo led off the inning with a single.  A fielders choice by Henson and an error by the Wildcats gave the Bearcats their first score. 

But the Wildcats found their offensive machine as well in the fourth as Dalton Phillips and Alex Gibbs offered base hits and Austin Phillips donated a double to the offensive effort.  The Wildcats ended with a 4 to 1 lead at the end of the fourth. 

The top of the lineup for the Wildcats led off the fifth inning with a hitting spree of three singles by Jacob Hector, Dalton Phillips and Timmy Hector.  Alex Gibbs had a big time double to bring their score to 8 to 1.

However, the "never say die" Bearcats put their best offensive foot forward in the fifth inning batting through the entire lineup and adding six runs to their score.  The game came to an exciting end with a long fly ball to centerfield that was caught by Bloomfield.  Bloomfield ended the game with a victory over the Bearcats 8 to 7.

East Prairie 11 vs New Madrid CC  0

East Prairie came into the contest against the New Madrid County Eagles sporting a solid looking group of athletes.  During the pregame warmup, you could quickly see the quality of the East Prairie program.

East Prairie made quick work of the New Madrid County Eagles by defeating them by a score of 11 to 0. 

Bloomfield 8 vs East Prairie  2

The final stage was set as both first round winners were to play in what was determined by most, the championship of the tournament.  A large group of fans from both teams lined the streets around the park as well as filling the stands.

Bloomfield started the game with Jacob Hector on the mound.  Jacob worked well with his catcher Alex Gibbs to keep the offense of the East Prairie Eagles off balance.  Hector started the first inning in a strong fashion with 2 of his 7 strikeouts and a flyout by the Eagles.

Bloomfield was able to get on the scoreboard in the first inning with some aggressive base running after Jacob Hector and Alex Gibbs were able to reach base on a walk and being hit by a pitch.  At the end first, Bloomfield held a 2 to 0 lead over the Eagles.

The scoreless second inning was highlighted by Jacob Hector again as he collected two more strikeouts.  The Eagles were able to gain a base runner on a single by their catcher, Campbell, but left him stranded on third base. 

A three up and three down inning by the Wildcats defense in the third inning gave Bloomfield an opportunity to get their offensive guns out and blow the game up.  Dalton Phillips reached the bases with a solid single for Bloomfield, followed by a walk drawn by Gibbs.  The timing was right for Timmy Hector to deliver a one out double to begin bringing runs home. 

Bloomfield's Austin Phillips earned another base on balls to continue to drive.  Phillips offered some crafty base running skills coupled with a smashing double by Kyle Anderson to give the Wildcats a 6 to 0 lead after three innings. 

The Wildcats hope for a shutout ended in the fourth inning as the big strong first baseman, Hausman, for East Prairie sent the baseball sailing over the outfield fence.  Hausman was able to drive home an additional run with his blast closing the lead to 6 to 2. 

Jacob Hector received a walk in the fourth and quickly made work of advancing the bases with two stolen bases.  Hector was brought home on a hard hit single by Alex Gibbs.  Gibbs also scored in the inning on a base hit by Austin Phillips to create the final score of the game, 8 to 2.

An excited group of Bloomfield Wildcats gathered after the game to celebrate their victory and get pictures made for their team.

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Submitted by
Dee Loflin, Manager/Writer SMT

Jefferson City, Missouri - Hunters hoping to bag mature gobblers during the early season should cultivate patience and watch wild turkey hens, according to the Show-Me State’s top turkey expert.

Resource Scientist Jason Isabelle oversees turkey management for the Missouri Department of Conservation. Like other hunters, he has been watching the weather and thinking about how it will affect hunting conditions during the spring turkey hunting season April 15 through May 5. Those considerations go all the way back to last year’s record drought.

Acorns are the single most important food source for wild turkeys in southern Missouri and other areas where forest is the dominant land cover. Waste grain is a staple food for turkeys in areas where row-crop agriculture dominates the landscape. Last year’s drought caused shortages of these dietary mainstays in many areas, but Isabelle doesn’t expect this to have a dramatic impact on the state’s turkey population.

“The best-case scenario for turkeys is a good mast year and a mild winter,” says Isabelle. “But Missouri’s turkey population has dealt with mast failures as long as they’ve existed here. Wild turkeys are extremely hardy birds that can tolerate quite a bit of snow and cold, as evidenced by their range, which extends into Minnesota, Maine, and several Canadian Provinces. As such, I would not expect that the winter had a great impact on the state’s wild turkey population.”

Wild turkeys normally start the spring eating acorns from the previous fall. They switch to grasses, sedges, and broadleaf plants as green-up occurs. Insects are particularly important to wild turkey hens as they head into the nesting season. These are most abundant in areas with tender new plant growth. Trees are leafing out later than usual this year because of colder-than-normal weather in March. As a result, turkeys are more likely to be found in open areas that green up early. Areas where winter burns occurred are particularly attractive, because the soil is exposed to sunlight and plants sprout early.

Weather also affects turkey behavior directly. Although day length is the primary trigger for mating and nesting behavior, cool temperatures can delay the break-up of winter turkey flocks. Isabelle says reports from around the state seem to confirm this.

“Around the first of April, I was still hearing from people who were seeing flocks of 20 to 30 birds,” says Isabelle. “Hunters may see turkeys grouped up a little more than they typically would be early in the season, but things can change in a hurry when temperatures climb to more normal levels. Hunters will have better luck if they pay attention to how turkeys react to changes in weather.”

“Hunting early-season birds that are still in large, mixed flocks can be challenging but rewarding as well,” says Isabelle. “Keying in on food sources can pay big dividends, as hens will often head to these areas, dragging gobblers along with them.”

Isabelle notes that another factor, unrelated to weather, will put hunters in the field earlier in the turkey mating season this year. Spring turkey season always opens on the third Monday in April. Some years, that can be as late as April 22.  This year’s April 15 opener is as early as it can be.

“Temperatures between now and April 15 will affect hunters’ experience during the early part of the season,” says Isabelle, “especially in the northern part of the state.”

He is optimistic about this year’s spring turkey season because of strong turkey nesting success for the past two years. Production was fair to poor from 2007 through 2010, on account of late freezes, record rainfall, and cool, wet springs. During those years, surveys showed that turkey hens produced from 1 to 1.2 poults per hen.

Turkeys got a break from the weather in 2011 and again last year, and the poult-to-hen ratio jumped to 1.7 poults per hen. Although a jump from 1.2 to 1.7 poults per hen may not seem like that much of an increase, when you consider the number of hens in Missouri’s wild turkey population, an increase of that magnitude can make a substantial difference in bird numbers.

That makes 2011 and 2012 the best years for wild-turkey production since 2002. Consequently, hunters will see more 1- and 2-year-old turkeys this year than they have in quite some time.

Year-old male turkeys, commonly called “jakes,” can be the easiest for hunters to fool. However, most hunters prefer to shoot older gobblers. Two-year-old gobblers are generally more vocal than young or older birds, so hunting them is exciting.

“Hunters should hear lots of gobbling this year, and they will find a lot of jakes in the woods,” says Isabelle. “Overall, I think that hunters are going to be in for a good spring turkey season in Missouri this year.”

Isabelle says southeast Missouri has had the best turkey production during the past two years, so hunters there should notice increased turkey numbers. West-central Missouri and the southwest Ozark Border region also have had better turkey production than other regions for the past two years, so those areas have bright prospects for the 2013 hunting season.

Northeast Missouri also had a very good hatch in 2011 and a respectable hatch last year. Turkey numbers there remain below the peak seen in the early 2000s, but hunters should notice an increase compared to the lean years of 2008-2010.

Last year’s turkey production in northwest Missouri was an improvement over previous years. However, Isabelle says turkey hunters there are not likely to see as large an increase in turkey numbers as hunters in other parts of the state.

For details of the 2012 Turkey Brood Survey, visit mdc.mo.gov/node/16163.

The only change to statewide regulations is that hunters no longer are required to place the yellow “Be Safe” stickers on their shotguns, as they have been in the past. Some regulations for specific conservation areas and managed hunts have changed. These changes are outlined in the 2013 Spring Turkey Hunting Regulation and Information booklet, which it is available wherever hunting permits are sold or at www.mdc.mo.gov/node/4051.

Bernie, Missouri - The Bernie Lady's Softball Team got off to a great start this week after a busy weekend in the Ben Kruse 18-Fore Life Dig Pink Tournament this past weekend.  The Lady Mules were able to capture two back to back wins by substantial margins.

Bernie was able to defeat the Caruthersville Tigers on their home field by a score of 18 to 1 on Monday afternoon.  The Mules returned home today to make equal handy work of the Scott County Central Bravettes by defeating them in three innings 22 to 0. 

Scott County Central had some difficulty in the pitching department as they issued 15 walks in the contest.  Pitching is always a big part of the game.  However, when the Bravettes were able to find the strike zone, the Lady Mules were ready to pummel the softball into play. 

The Mules strictly were in control of the batters box throughout the game.  They not only batted completely around the lineup in the first inning but were able to bat the entire lineup twice in the second inning collecting 14 of the total 22 runs. 

Individually, Taylor Wilhite and Tatum Stone were able to provide extra base hits with a double each in the contest.  Wilhite was 1 for 2 on the day with 2 walks and Stone was a perfect 2 for 2 with 1 walk. 

The top three lead off hitters for the Mules, Katie Baker, Chelsea Wagner and Tori Lowrey were able to put perfect averages in the scorebook, along with Lari Spitzer.  Baker had a excellent outing with 5 RBI's, while scoring 4 runs on the day.

Lari Spitzer had the mound for the Brad Botsch's Bernie Mules.  She was able to deliver.  She dominated the Scott County Central Bravettes by only facing 10 total batters in the game, recording six strikeouts. 

Bernie will be in action again on Wednesday as they travel to Zalma to take on the Zalma High School Bulldogs.

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