Are there any WV turkey hunters here? If so, how was your season?

I hunted 5 days of the entire season, got to hunt the first day of season, that Friday and Saturday and then the next two weekends. Didn't hear a bird!!

Now 2 weeks before season opened I did call one in and got a picture with my Minolta 7000 AF 35mm camera. He was gobbling his head off, he got within 20 yards of me just a strut'n.

The DNR says that this was a better year than last. Just wondering if anyone else that hunts had the same problem I did.

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Jim, for the 1st time in yrs, I heard Jakes in Sleepy Creek... amazing....
season wasn't good in Wayne County, according to my Pal who lives there. Hardy Co was decent this year...'bout time,too. heard quite a few birds down there.didn't see many deer,tho...

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Check out these depressing statistics for WV's northern region:

West Virginia Spring Wild Turkey Harvest, 2001-2005
County 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Barbour 336 254 221 188 200
Brooke 265 159 140 144 119
Hancock 141 120 128 182 131
Harrison 716 419 306 277 269
Marion 404 320 255 190 163
Marshall 547 418 363 278 264
Monongalia 570 394 351 292 236
Ohio 218 162 138 116 109
Preston 640 499 454 348 375
Taylor 215 161 156 116 102
Tucker 167 108 102 53 88
Wetzel 566 324 236 200 242
Dist. I 4,785 3,338 2,850 2,384 2,298


http://thesouthernoutdoorsman.com/fo...ad.php?t=23448

Hal

You should go the WV DNR Website at http://www.wvdnr.gov and look at the results for Fayette County...a decline since 2001...if I remember right just over 200 birds this year compared to over 400 in 2001. Something is very wrong, but don't know what it is. Could be poaching, poor mass year (according to the DNR that is what is wrong with all the big game kills), lack of turkey hunters or maybe loss of habitat. Who knows?

does anyone have the official results of this yr? how many were killed? was the total harvest off as much as ecpected?

loss of hbitat is the fastest growing problem facing wildlife in the East. poor mast yrs don't help.....

Here is the page from the WV DNR Website:

News Release : May 26, 2005



Hoy Murphy , Public Information Officer (304) 558-3380 [email protected]

Contact: Curtis Taylor , Wildlife Resources Section Chief (304) 558-2771 [email protected]



2005 West Virginia Spring Gobbler Harvest Reported


Hunters in West Virginia harvested 10,804 turkeys during the 2005 spring gobbler season, according to Curtis I. Taylor, Chief of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Section. Preliminary harvest figures indicate that the turkey kill was slightly higher than last year's kill of 10,573 birds.


The top five counties this spring were Mason (447), Summers (388), Preston (375), Ritchie (340), and Jackson (333). Twenty-nine of the state's 55 counties showed increases in the harvest this year, with most of the increase in the southern counties. The highest harvests were reported in DNR District 6 (2,337), followed by District 1 (2,298), District 4 (2,102), District 5 (1,993), District 3 (1,228) and District 2 (846). (See accompanying chart for counties in each district.)



The increase in the spring gobbler harvest this year follows three years of declining harvest related to poor wild turkey brood production. “The cold, wet weather that occurred during previous nesting and brood rearing seasons reduced wild turkey populations across the state,” said Taylor . “More favorable weather conditions during this critical period should allow turkey populations to recover from these recent declines.”



Many hunters noted that gobblers were wary and difficult to call this year. An abundance of older birds and a lack of two year old gobblers often makes spring gobbler hunting more difficult and challenging. On the positive side many older trophy gobblers were harvested by Mountain State hunters.

**DNR**



West Virginia Spring Wild Turkey Harvest, 2001-2005
County 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Barbour 336 254 221 188 200
Brooke 265 159 140 144 119
Hancock 141 120 128 182 131
Harrison 716 419 306 277 269
Marion 404 320 255 190 163
Marshall 547 418 363 278 264
Monongalia 570 394 351 292 236
Ohio 218 162 138 116 109
Preston 640 499 454 348 375
Taylor 215 161 156 116 102
Tucker 167 108 102 53 88
Wetzel 566 324 236 200 242
Dist. I Subtotal 4,785 3,338 2,850 2,384 2,298

Berkeley 93 79 69 74 84
Grant 172 162 156 138 107
Hampshire 215 181 224 200 183
Hardy 227 187 172 217 127
Jefferson 48 40 33 40 43
Mineral 134 134 124 86 110
Morgan 76 68 81 61 84
Pendleton 181 142 133 124 108
Dist. II Subtotal 1,146 993 992 940 846

Braxton 432 270 289 227 224
Clay 170 78 95 83 74
Lewis 605 442 375 279 267
Nicholas 305 222 199 181 173
Pocahontas 216 157 132 74 98
Randolph 380 192 204 165 118
Upshur 413 346 274 225 206
Webster 182 89 117 96 68
Dist. III Subtotal 2,703 1,796 1,685 1,330 1,228

Fayette 408 344 309 271 260
Greenbrier 405 350 289 239 275
McDowell 279 241 220 214 184
Mercer 322 337 277 294 282
Monroe 205 191 170 167 216
Raleigh 387 318 294 299 325
Summers 368 302 254 316 388
Wyoming 278 250 237 166 172
Dist. IV Subtotal 2,652 2,333 2,050 1,966 2,102

Boone 184 150 173 189 141
Cabell 165 168 171 141 152
Kanawha 422 278 260 260 298
Lincoln 228 229 220 208 229
Logan 167 156 163 159 155
Mason 592 559 473 400 447
Mingo 114 98 95 81 88
Putnam 364 297 243 211 239
Wayne 272 231 238 198 244
Dist. V Subtotal 2,508 2,166 2,036 1,847 1,993

Calhoun 232 139 189 183 164
Doddridge 489 338 245 191 214
Gilmer 342 216 224 186 183
Jackson 545 351 468 250 333
Pleasants 190 132 113 89 90
Ritchie 542 343 437 291 340
Roane 382 298 326 294 297
Tyler 423 231 246 178 199
Wirt 353 276 317 215 234
Wood 583 435 357 229 283
Dist. VI Subtotal 4,081 2,759 2,922 2,106 2,337

State Total 17,875 13,385 12,535 10,573 10,804


This can be found on http://www.wvdnr.gov/2005news/05news105.shtm