West Virginia 2018 spring turkey harvest largest in 15 years

Hunters harvested 12,274 gobblers during the 2018 Spring Turkey Hunting Season. Photo courtesy of West Virginia Department of Commerce.

By: Samantha Smith | Posted: May 18, 2018 | Source: WVDNR

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — According to preliminary data gathered by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, turkey hunters in West Virginia harvested 12,274 gobblers this spring, which is a 15-year high and a 6 percent increase over 2017.
This year’s harvest also is more than 10 percent above the 10-year average, said Mike Peters, Game Bird and Small Game Project Leader for the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.

All but two DNR districts reported an increase over 2017 harvest figures. Districts 4 and 5 were the only two districts with fewer harvested birds this year. Counties in District 1 harvested the most birds again this year with 3,416, followed by District 6 (2,651), District 5 (1,811), District 4 (1,515), District 3 (1,805) and District 2 (1,076).

The five counties with the largest harvest were Preston (553), Mason (468), Jackson (460), Harrison (440) and Marshall (417).

Youth hunters harvested 431 turkeys during the one-day youth season on April 14. Those numbers, along with county totals, are included in the table below.