Mason County sports numerous bottomland farms with tributaries of the Ohio River drainage intermixed with cattle concerns and wood lots. This is classic wild turkey habitat and the harvests reflect that. With all of the food and ideal habitat available, Mason County’s turkeys often do well even during harsh winters and poor hard mast years. Cold winters and lack of food often are the reasons that highland West Virginia counties experience a drop in turkey numbers, especially when poor hatches also occur.

Although Mason stands well above the rest of the district, other domains are worth recognition, too. These counties include Kanawha (263 and 249), Lincoln (223 and 175), Putnam (246 and 178) and Wayne (207 and 165). Boone is an interesting District V county for 2008. The harvests were not large the past two years (159 and 150), but this county does not have a large human population and hunting is often difficult in the rugged mountains. Yet, that same isolated nature means that the birds there often don’t receive a great deal of hunting pressure. If an individual is willing to take on these steep, forbidding mountains, he or she may experience some outstanding sport.

DISTRICT VI
District VI consists of the Mountain State’s western reaches, as well as areas in the north-central part of the state. The harvest dropped from 2,526 in 2006 to 2,052 in 2007, again reflecting the disappointing 2005 hatch. From 2003 through 2005, the tallies have been 2,922, then 2,106 and 2,339, respectively.

Last year, Jackson County led the district with a figure of 361 turkeys bagged. Indeed, Jackson was one of the few counties to experience an increase from the 2006 total of 353. Jackson features quite a bit of rolling hills style habitat with farms in the coves and wood lots and cattle operations on the hillsides. Springs dot the hillsides and creeks flow through the valleys, both increasing the habitat variety and turkey potential.

Although Jackson led the district last year, Wood County has also spent time at the top of the leader board, as the latter paced the field in 2006 with 409 turkeys being harvested before dropping to 337 birds in 2007. Wood County’s habitat is a mirror image of that of Jackson’s, and both areas should be excellent destinations this spring. I have not hunted Jackson County for several years and need to try to go there this spring -- fellow hunters should consider doing the same for both Jackson and Wood.

These two counties are not the only ones that should be productive this spring. Worth checking out are Calhoun (193 and 147), Gilmer (195 and 151), Ritchie (317 and 245), Roane (293 and 269), Tyler (198 and 153) and Wirt (272 and 216).

All of these counties had high harvests late in the 1990s and early 2000s, as West Virginia was in the midst of a turkey boom. But all these areas experienced a series of poor hatches in the early part of this decade, something that was true not only in all of West Virginia but also in neighboring states, such as Virginia and Kentucky. With favorable weather in late May and early June, these counties will see their turkey populations rebound.

It’s true that West Virginia’s turkey hunters have had to work harder to locate turkeys in both the spring and fall seasons over the past few years. The reason why has been poor reproduction -- pure and simple. In my travels, I often hear all kinds of reasons for the downturn, from coyotes to raptors to even those few individuals who blame the DNR for their turkey-hunting woes.

The truth is that coyotes mostly eat groundhogs, mice and rabbits, and raptors are no threats to full-grown turkeys. And the DNR has been doing an outstanding job managing our wildlife. Again, with a few good hatches, West Virginia’s turkey numbers will quickly rebound. When that happens, you need to be in your favorite hunting hotspot! I know I will be.

Find more about West Virginia fishing and hunting at: WVgameandfish.com