West Virginia hunters harvest 11,539 spring turkeys in 2017

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West Virginia hunters harvest 11,539 spring turkeys in 2017
Map showing West Virginia DNR Districts

Spring turkey hunters harvested 11,539 gobblers in 2017, an increase of more than 11 percent over the 2016 harvest, according to preliminary numbers provided by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.

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The harvest is the largest since 2006 when 11,735 birds were harvested and is more than 18 percent above the 10-year average.

“Weather conditions were variable across the state during this year’s spring gobbler season, so it’s nice to see hunters were able to get out and enjoy some successful hunting, which is reflected in the harvest numbers,” said Mike Peters, a game-bird biologist for the division.

Five of the six division districts reported increased harvests over last year. District 4 was the only district in which fewer birds were harvested than in 2016.

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District 1 again recorded the most birds harvested this year (2,578), followed by District 6 (2,250), District 5 (2,090), District 4 (1,858), District 3 (1,733), and District 2 (1,030).

The top five West Virginia counties with the largest harvests were Preston (475), which was up more than 100 birds from last year, Mason (448), Jackson (408), Wood (380), and Harrison (327).

Youth hunters harvested 458 turkeys during the one-day youth season on April 15. Those numbers are included on the following table.


West Virginia Spring Gobbler Season Results

County 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Barbour 162 178 127 165 204
Brooke 104 84 67 78 100
Hancock 110 110 89 98 106
Harrison 355 264 247 286 327
Marion 218 149 170 192 256
Marshall 300 220 174 207 255
Monongalia 262 174 199 197 266
Ohio 131 91 109 111 113
Preston 403 344 333 371 475
Taylor 103 87 72 101 135
Tucker 57 88 82 90 97
Wetzel 256 203 168 196 244
Dist. 1 2,461 1,992 1,837 2,092 2,578
Berkeley 98 112 124 115 147
Grant 129 129 131 161 145
Hampshire 124 138 156 170 184
Hardy 129 135 116 132 132
Jefferson 60 57 82 79 114
Mineral 87 96 118 134 132
Morgan 54 62 64 54 64
Pendleton 117 95 94 88 112
Dist. 2 798 824 885 933 1,030
Braxton 238 175 194 197 209
Clay 147 68 83 101 120
Lewis 221 180 194 211 249
Nicholas 221 164 213 330 311
Pocahontas 160 130 145 144 143
Randolph 217 186 225 250 248
Upshur 262 229 231 228 303
Webster 118 113 114 156 150
Dist. 3 1,584 1,245 1,399 1,617 1,733
Fayette 287 244 239 292 278
Greenbrier 299 245 242 308 269
McDowell 308 215 218 200 177
Mercer 177 170 161 176 192
Monroe 206 212 181 184 192
Raleigh 277 214 231 283 279
Summers 258 209 199 219 209
Wyoming 291 255 257 320 262
Dist. 4 2,103 1,764 1,728 1,982 1,858
Boone 230 159 138 157 157
Cabell 138 80 110 114 176
Kanawha 332 231 227 285 319
Lincoln 213 178 169 215 228
Logan 246 181 172 181 165
Mason 370 293 314 378 448
Mingo 141 93 91 131 143
Putnam 225 150 181 210 268
Wayne 144 103 108 139 186
Dist. 5 2,039 1,468 1,510 1,810 2,090
Calhoun 179 135 128 145 164
Doddridge 138 126 118 137 160
Gilmer 191 147 124 132 143
Jackson 326 293 264 302 408
Pleasants 83 73 71 80 89
Ritchie 326 245 218 216 263
Roane 236 232 210 231 256
Tyler 211 136 144 182 181
Wirt 193 177 153 174 206
Wood 294 271 248 328 380
Dist. 6 2,177 1,835 1,678 1,927 2,250
Total 11,162 9,128 9,037 10,361 11,539

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