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(AP) -- Missouri's Conservation Department says the number of turkeys bagged in the spring hunting season was up more than 5 percent from last year.

The department said Monday that hunters checked about 40,400 turkeys during the regular spring season.

Conservation department spokesman Joe Jerek says the increase was partly due to a large population of young male turkeys, called "jakes." Jerek says jakes made up about 28 percent of the birds checked this year.

He says the number of turkeys that hatched last year was so high that hunters could see a large number of 2-year-old jakes in next year's spring hunt.
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      County turkey numbers are online:
      Department of Conservation: http://1.usa.gov/J9I4h8

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