DISTRICT 1
District 1 boasts the turkey-rich Northern Panhandle and nearby northwestern sector counties. The district is touting some new WMAs in a region that historically has had limited opportunities thereof. Without further ado, why not try the relatively new Lantz Farm, Little Indian Creek and Pedlar WMAs. District biologist Gary Foster proudly touts the “cooperative” formation of these tracts. Though not big in acreage, they collectively should compensate as they hold traditionally higher turkey numbers.

The square-mile-sized Lantz Farm was developed in cooperation with Wheeling Jesuit University and the Lantz family. It is located in Wetzel County near Jacksonburg, amid some of the highest turkey population densities that our state can boast.

The 1,036-acre Little Indian Creek WMA in Monongalia County (near Arnettsville) is the state’s newest public-land option. Consol Energy and the National Wild Turkey Federation were key players in this gem’s conversion to the public sector. This county and region are perennial top producers where the biggest challenge can oft just be finding a place to hunt.

Also in Monongalia County, and with many thanks again to Consol Energy, the Pedlar WMA (near the town of Core) offers two separate and former coal facility reclamation tracts totaling 766 acres of excellent turkey range. Pedlar WMA also features two recently dedicated fishing lakes, Mason and Dixon.

You should find the turkey scratching to your liking at these District 1 tracts, which are all quite close to Morgantown. The tracts are likewise convenient to visiting Pennsylvania, Maryland or Ohio hunters. For more specific information, contact the District 1 office at (304) 8256787.

DISTRICT 2
The Eastern Panhandle and northeastern sector’s District 2 has some good turkey numbers with much more spacious public hunting opportunities. Regional staff here recommend the 8,000-acre Short Mountain WMA in Hampshire County near Augusta. The WMA affords some primitive camping options to boot.

For a District 2 alternate, the largest DNR-owned state tract can be found at the 23,000-acre Sleepy Creek WMA in Berkeley and Morgan counties near Berkeley Springs. Camping and the 205-acre Sleepy Creek Lake are both available within. The lake calls for electric motors only and is another “sneak in” option for spring gobbler hunters.

District staff can be contacted at (304) 822-3551. They report with amazement the almost complete lack of hunting pressure after the first week of the season. That can be confirmed in other parts of the state as well. For some high-quality hunting, keep that in mind. I can vouch for fewer hunters being around, yet plenty of birds being available.

In fact, DNR staff suspect the noted drop in gobbler kill may at least in part be due to a decline in hunting pressure. Some hunters may have opted out during these leaner turkey times.

To call a few turkey hunters back to the flock, consider this: The initial two years of DNR’s radio telemetry gobbler studies reveal that roughly one in five gobblers are meeting their maker from hunting. The other side of that coin, four of five gobblers are making it through the annual spring games thumbing their noses at the hunters, so to speak.

DISTRICT 3
Let’s move a notch south now to the public land-rich east-central District 3; I spoke with Curtis Taylor, the DNR’s chief of Wildlife Resources and an erstwhile turkey man whose acorn hasn’t fallen too far from the tree. Taylor got the boating option thing rolling and for this district, you can include the motors.