Spring turkey harvest in West Virginia reaches 15-year high

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Spring turkey harvest in West Virginia reaches 15-year high
A hunter calls a gobbler during spring turkey season in West Virginia. Photo courtesy W.Va. Div. of Commerce.
A hunter calls a gobbler during spring turkey season in West Virginia. Photo courtesy W.Va. Dept. of Commerce.

Turkey hunters in West Virginia harvested 12,274 gobblers in spring 2018 — a 15-year high and a six-percent increase over 2017, according to preliminary data gathered by the state Division of Natural Resources.

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This harvest was also more than 10 percent above the 10-year average, according to Mike Peters, Game Bird and Small Game Project Leader for the division.

All but two state districts reported an increase over 2017 harvest figures: districts 4 and 5 in southern and western West Virginia saw fewer birds harvested this year.

Counties in District 1 in northern West Virginia and its northern panhandle harvested the most birds again with 3,416, followed by District 6 in the mid-Ohio valley, District 5 in the west, District 4 in the south, District 3 in the central and eastern, and District 2 in the east and eastern panhandle.

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

Youth hunters harvested 431 turkeys during the one-day youth season on April 14.

 

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