Tucker also shares the 68,782-acre Otter Creek WMA with another county, in this case, Randolph. And Tucker is one of four counties that contain parts of the 139,786-acre Potomac WMA. Otter Creek, relatively speaking, is the more rugged of these two areas and has elevations of over 4,000 feet. Both counties contain mixed hardwoods with oaks and hickories being common as well.

In 2005, Tucker only recorded 88 gobblers, which, in fact, ranked last in District I. But Ryan loves the potential of Tucker as a late-season hotspot and as a place that has many areas that are underhunted.

DISTRICT II
Eastern Panhandle And Eastern Counties
Chris Ryan chose the last place county in overall harvest for his District I selection, but for District II, he went with the county that led its region -- Hampshire, which accounted for 183 toms.

"I think that Hampshire is a very good choice -- in fact, it's where I end up most of the time in weeks three and four," he said. "There's some WMA property. However, we have lost a significant amount of public land from development in that county over the last three years and there's likely more to come."

Nevertheless, the biologist is high on Hampshire, due in part to a unit of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest, and the 55,327-acre Wardensville WMA, which lies in that county as well as Hardy. It's no surprise that given its location in the eastern West Virginia mountains, Wardensville features steep elevations and large tracts of unbroken oak-hickory forests. The state-owned 8,875-acre Nathaniel Mountain WMA also lies within the domain and sports the requisite highland turf (some places top 3,000 feet) and hardwood forests.

Plenty of mountain farms also speckle Hampshire County, and they can provide tremendous opportunities. I have hunted this type of habitat in Hampshire and have been impressed with the mixture of rolling hillsides, scattered wood lots and numerous openings. If possible, try to gain access to some of these farms.

DISTRICT III
Central Mountain Counties
Chris Ryan, understandably, had difficulty in making up his mind for a District III choice.

"Randolph or Pocahontas -- take your choice -- either one would be good with all of the public land," the biologist said. "Pocahontas is often said to have the highest percentage of public land east of the Mississippi."

When Chris said I could take my choice, I selected Pocahontas as my favorite destination for District III. The reason is simply that I can drive to the 67,251-acre Rimel WMA in less than two hours. And when in the past I have made that drive (and I have done so quite a lot in recent years), I have always encountered gobblers late in the season.

I have huffed my way up many of the mountainsides on the Rimel in order to attain the same level as a gobbling bird. One time I reached a ridge about the same time as a longbeard did. And I then had the distinct displeasure of watching him sail back down the mountain.