POPE COUNTY
Shifting to the South Zone, sporadic is a good word to describe Pope County. It yielded great success in 2002 and 2003 with 580 and 599 birds, respectively. Success rates for those years were above 24 percent. It declined some in the next two years with harvest figures around 350 in both 2004 and 2005. The harvest success dipped as low as 16.95 in 2004. Last year saw a little improvement, with the kill bouncing back up to 378 turkeys, and the success rate was up to 18.59 percent. This county is a favorite of many hunters, so hopefully, this spring will see the upward trend continue.

MARION COUNTY
The top county in the South Zone for number of birds plucked last spring behind Pope was Marion. It was one of only six counties in the zone that yielded over 300 birds. Hunters took 363 turkeys there last spring, and it has given up over 300 birds each of the last four spring seasons. In 2002, hunters took 277 birds there, but the success rate was still up near 25 percent. It has remained good for the past five years straight and jumped to 25.79 percent last year. This year could see an even better percentage with a little good fortune.

JEFFERSON COUNTY
Coming in just behind Marion County in the South Zone is Jefferson County, where hunters shot only one less bird. The success rate was not quite as good, but was still quite admirable at 22.72 percent. Jefferson was down slightly last season from the previous three years. Hunters took 292 birds there in 2002, and the harvest increased each successive season until last year. The rate has remained around 24 percent or above each of those years until last season's drop. Area hunters are hoping to see a rebound there this spring.

RANDOLPH COUNTY
Hunters had very good success in Randolph County as well. There were 337 birds bagged there in spring 2006. Last year made three years in a row and four out of five years that hunters killed over 300 birds. That translates to being very consistent, and Randolph shows good promise again for this year. Success dropped a little last season to just under 23 percent, which was down from 24.44 in 2005. However, both of the last two years have seen an increase in the harvest success over the previous three years. Those years still had good percentages, with every season being above 21 percent. Again, that means consistency.

MADISON COUNTY
Some 314 birds succumbed to hunter effort last season in Madison County. The success rate came in at a very impressive 27.01 percent. That's not quite the high experienced there in 2002 when hunters enjoyed a 27.96 percent success rate for spring turkeys, but it's not far off, and it has consistently been above 25 percent, which is always a good sign. The harvest in Madison County has increased for five consecutive years. Couple that with the high percentage of success, and it looks very favorable again this season.

UNION COUNTY
The last county in the South Zone that accounted for a turkey harvest greater than 300 birds in 2006 was Union. The total number of birds taken there was 306. The success rate made a nice increase and was around 23.56 percent. During other years, the rate ranged from a high of 23.31 percent in 2004 to a low of 20.31 percent in 2002. Union County has seen kill numbers range from 221 birds in 2002 to the high of 306 last year. It had a slight dropoff in 2005, but it seems to be bouncing back. If production in the county remains good, 2007 should provide hunters there with good results.