According to preliminary data released by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, hunters harvested 10,694 bearded turkeys during the spring gobbler season.
“Spring turkey season continues to be a valued tradition in West Virginia, where hunters have a strong commitment to wildlife conservation and responsible hunting practices,” said Brett McMillion WVDNR director. “We’re encouraged by the strong participation this spring, especially from all of the youth hunters who bagged their bird during the two-day youth season.”
Youth hunters harvested 682 turkeys (502 on Saturday and 180 on Sunday), which is a slight increase over the 601 birds that were taken in 2024. This year, the youth harvest made up 6.4 percent of the total harvest. Those numbers are included in the table with county totals.
Despite a strong showing from youth hunters, this year’s total harvest was 8.2 percent below last year’s harvest (11,650), 1.1 percent below the five-year average (10,812) and 8.7 percent below the 10-year average (11,709).
All six districts harvested fewer birds than last year. District 1 (Barbour, Brooke, Hancock, Harrison, Marion, Marshall, Monongalia, Ohio, Preston, Taylor Tucker and Wetzel counties) harvested the most birds (2,459) followed by District 6 (Calhoun, Doddridge, Gilmer, Jackson, Pleasants, Ritchie, Roane, Tyler, Wirt and Wood counties) with 1,945, District 5 (Boone, Cabell, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Mason, Mingo, Putnam and Wayne counties) 1,889, District 4 (Fayette, Greenbrier, McDowell, Mercer, Monroe, Raleigh, Summers and Wyoming) 1,641, District 3 (Braxton, Clay, Lewis, Nicholas, Pocahontas, Randolph, Upshur and Webster counties) 1,547 and District 2 (Berkeley, Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Jefferson, Mineral, Morgan and Pendleton counties) 1,213.
The top five counties with the highest turkey harvest were Mason (476), Jackson (366), Preston (362), Harrison (345) and Kanawha (306) counties.
In Pendleton County, hunters harvested 150 turkeys, compared to 157 in 2024, 185 in 2023, 126 in 2022 and 138 in 2021.
Hunters harvested 171 birds in Grant County, 189 in Hardy County, 152 in Pocahontas and 238 in Randolph.
Hunters are reminded that there is still time to report their spring gobbler hunting activity for inclusion in the 2025 annual spring gobbler survey. For more information about the survey, visit WVdnr.gov/surveys.
