The 2,444 turkeys taken in the Ouachitas in 2009 represented 22 percent of the state total, and a 2 percent decrease from the region's 2008 tally. Muddy Creek WMA, Mount Magazine WMA and Winona WMA were the top public areas in the region, but that's largely because they're so big; only 11 percent of the Ouachita region's turkey harvest came from public land. Montgomery County, with 284 birds checked, ranked eighth in the state and was the only county in the region to make the Top 10. Six other counties -- Logan, Saline, Garland, Scott, Perry and Yell -- broke the 200 mark, and Polk, Pike and Sebastian counties yielded 184, 157 and 123, respectively. The last-place county in the region, Pulaski, still managed 62 birds, despite being heavily urbanized.

Obviously, although the Ouachita region is following the statewide trend toward reduced turkey numbers, there still are a lot of birds. If you have an old favorite hunting spot in the Ouachitas, go check it out this spring. It probably will hold turkeys.

GULF COASTAL PLAIN
As mentioned, this region showed a 15 percent drop in harvest from 2008 to 2009, the largest decrease in the state, and GCP hunters checked 2,535 turkeys. Less than 100 of them came from public land -- largely because there is so little public land in the region. Felsenthal NWR, Cut-Off Creek WMA and Poison Springs WMA probably provide the best public hunting in the region, as do some parts of the checker-boarded Casey Jones WMA leased lands.

Union County (the largest in the state) was the only GCP county to make the Top 10 list, coming in 10th with 277 birds checked. However, as with the Ouacitas, the majority of counties within the region had totals above 100 birds: Clark, 186; Hot Springs, 178; Cleveland, 164; Dallas, 161; Ouachita, 154; Calhoun, 153; Grant, 150; Columbia, 149; Nevada, 128; Ashley, 123; Bradley, 123; Drew, 123; and Lincoln, 102. Only the southwest corner counties of Little River and Miller -- with 32 and 12 turkeys checked, respectively -- appear likely to provide consistently poor hunting prospects for 2010.

OZARKS
As usual, the Ozark region had no competition from the rest of the state as the top turkey producer. With 4,843 birds checked, the region produced 44 percent of the statewide harvest -- the same percentage as last year, and a 4 percent decrease from the region's total harvest in 2008.

The eastern counties (those lying between Black River and White River, as well as Baxter, Cleburne and Stone along the White) accounted for the lion's share of the Ozark harvest. The farther west you go in the Ozarks, the closer you come to running out of turkeys. Benton County, for example, the state's northwestern most county, yielded only 12 turkeys in 2009. Washington County wasn't much better with 40 tagged birds, and Crawford County was third lowest in the region with 79.

However, across the central and eastern Ozarks the numbers are better. Eight connecting counties in the eastern edge of the region took eight of the Top 10 spots in the harvest rankings in 2009. They were Sharp, with 421 turkeys; Fulton, 409; Baxter, 337; Cleburne, 335; Independence, 329; Izard, 304; Randolph, 303; and Marion, 278. Lawrence County had 152 birds checked, but only half that county is in the Ozarks. The eastern half, east of Black River and in the Delta, holds relatively poor turkey habitat.