Missouri NWTF State Convention Puts Mission on Display

Supporters heard how conservation dollars are being put to work across the Midwest. Shotguns sounded across the sporting clays course. Researchers shared what they are learning about Missouri’s wild turkeys. Volunteers were recognized for their work, and before the weekend was over, state leaders turned their attention toward where Missouri NWTF dollars will make an impact next.

The Missouri State Convention and Shotgun Showcase brought volunteers, members, major donors, partners and staff together Aug. 28-30 for a weekend centered on conservation, camaraderie and the future of the wild turkey and hunting heritage.

“The Missouri State Convention and Shotgun Showcase was a great event,” said Kevin Hess, Missouri NWTF State Chapter president. “This event not only allowed us to celebrate our great volunteers and highlighted the work being done by them, but how the money being raised at our events is being put back on the ground for the wild turkey and the outdoor heritage of not only Missouri, but across the country for future generations of turkey hunters and outdoorsmen and women to be able to have the same opportunities we have been blessed with.”

The weekend began Friday evening with an Evening of Conservation for Missouri major donors.

NWTF District Biologist John Burk, who serves Missouri, Iowa and Illinois, spoke about the NWTF’s Roots to Roost Initiative and the conservation work it is helping advance throughout the Midwest.

Roots to Roost is a landscape-scale initiative focused on restoring and enhancing wildlife habitat across the region while bringing together landowners, conservation organizations, agencies and other partners. For those gathered Friday, the presentation offered a closer look at how support for the NWTF translates into conservation work beyond a single event or project.

By Saturday morning, the focus shifted from talking about shotguns to shooting them.

Teams headed onto the sporting clays course at Midway Farms for the Shotgun Showcase, making their way from station to station and trying different shotguns throughout the course.

The late-August Missouri heat was along for the ride, but so were plenty of laughs, friendly competition and conversation as clays flew throughout the morning.

After time on the course, attendees returned to the lodge, where the focus turned back to the wild turkey.

Researchers from the University of Missouri shared preliminary findings from a multiyear wild turkey research project in Putnam County, Missouri. During the project, researchers equipped hens and poults with transmitters and followed them over multiple years to better understand poult and brood survival.

The presentation gave those attending the convention an early look at what researchers have learned from the project before the study is formally published.

The research component also offered a reminder that conserving wild turkeys requires more than habitat work alone. Research helps wildlife managers better understand what is happening on the landscape and provides information that can guide future conservation and management decisions.

Saturday evening shifted the spotlight to the people helping make that work possible, with Missouri NWTF volunteers and chapters recognized for their contributions to the organization and its mission.

The evening continued with the convention banquet, bringing attendees together for another opportunity to support the NWTF mission. Funds raised through NWTF banquets and other events help support conservation, research, and education and outreach efforts through the organization’s Hunting Heritage Super Fund.

That connection between fundraising and work on the ground became especially clear the following morning.

On Sunday, the Missouri NWTF State Board of Directors gathered to review projects seeking support through the state’s Super Fund. Each year, money raised by NWTF volunteers and supporters is directed back into projects that benefit wild turkeys in Missouri.

The projects selected for the coming year will be highlighted separately once funding decisions are finalized.

For Hess, that progression — from celebrating volunteers and raising money to seeing how those dollars support conservation — represented what the weekend was ultimately about.

More than a gathering or a day on the sporting clays course, the Missouri State Convention and Shotgun Showcase showed how each piece of the NWTF mission works together. Volunteers help raise the money, donors and members provide support, researchers guides management, and conservation staff and partners put habitat on the landscape. By Sunday, the clays had stopped flying and the weekend’s celebrations had wrapped up, but Missouri NWTF leaders were already looking ahead to another year of putting those dollars back on the ground.