CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Wild turkey hunting will return to West Virginia when the fall season’s first segment opens in all 55 counties on October 11, according to officials at the W.Va. Division of Natural Resources.

Brett McMillion, director of the division, says he hopes more wild turkeys appear on dining room tables throughout West Virginia this Thanksgiving.

“Fall turkey season is a great opportunity to reconnect with the outdoors and take on the rewarding challenge of pursuing one of West Virginia’s most elusive game birds,” McMillion said.

“We encourage hunters to get into the woods this season and bag their own wild turkey for the Thanksgiving table.”

Fall turkey season segmented

The fall 2025 season will be segmented into three sections:

• The first segment of the fall turkey season is open Oct. 11 to 19 in all 55 counties.
• The second segment will be open Oct. 27 to Nov. 2 and provides an additional week of hunting opportunities in 13 counties.
• A third and final segment will run from Oct. 27 to Nov. 16 and offer three additional weeks of hunting across 14 counties.

Wild turkey hunting law

During the fall turkey season, only one bird of either sex can be harvested using a bow, crossbow, or gun, including air rifles that are .22 caliber or larger.

Hunting hours range from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset. The use of electronic calls and bait is prohibited.

For more information about the fall turkey season, check page 44 in the West Virginia Hunting Regulations Summary, available online at WVDNR.gov/hunting-regulations.

All hunters 15 and older must have a valid West Virginia hunting license and a valid form of identification while hunting, which can be purchased from license agents across the state or online at WVHunt.com.

Wild turkey makes a comeback

Once nearly gone from America’s eastern forests, the wild turkey has made a remarkable comeback thanks to decades of conservation work. By the 1930s, the species’ population had dropped to fewer than 30,000 nationwide due to unregulated hunting and widespread deforestation, according to the National Wild Turkey Federation.

Wildlife agencies began trap-and-transfer programs in the 1950s, relocating birds from Maine to Georgia to suitable habitats. Today, wild turkeys number in the millions and occupy 49 states — a recovery Audubon Magazine has called “one of North America’s greatest conservation success stories.”

The eastern wild turkey, Meleagris gallopavo silvestris, the largest of five U.S. subspecies, thrives in West Virginia forests that are interspersed with fields and agricultural edges.

Wild turkey in West Virginia

In West Virginia, wild turkey hunting has deep roots and a history of near loss. After the Civil War, widespread logging, farm clearing, and unregulated hunting nearly wiped out the species in the state.

By the 1920s, wildlife officials estimated that only about 6,000 birds remained, according to the West Virginia Encyclopedia. State records show hunters reported killing just 106 turkeys in 1923.

The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources began restoring the bird in the 1950s through a “trap-and-transfer” effort, releasing wild-caught turkeys into mountain forests such as Coopers Rock State Forest near Morgantown and Bluestone Wildlife Management Area near Hinton, according to the National Park Service.

Over the next several decades, biologists moved hundreds of birds across the state, and by the late 20th century, wild turkeys had been restored to all 55 counties.

Benjamin Franklin and the wild turkey

The wild turkey also holds a quirky place in American lore. In a 1784 letter to his daughter, Benjamin Franklin wrote that the bald eagle was “a bird of bad moral character” and called the turkey “a much more respectable bird.”

Though Franklin never formally proposed the turkey as the national emblem, the story endures as a piece of patriotic myth.