| South Charleston, W.Va. - Preliminary figures for the 2011 fall turkey hunting season show a harvest of 1,172 turkeys, according to Paul Johansen, assistant chief in charge of game management for the Wildlife Resources Section of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. The 2011 harvest was four percent higher than the 1,126 birds checked in during the 2010 fall season.
"Fall wild turkey harvests are highly influenced by annual reproduction and hard mast conditions," stated Johansen. "The reduced acorn crop of 2011 had birds more concentrated around specific food sources and easier to harvest than in 2010.
Although there were six fewer counties open to fall hunting in 2011, the harvest was slightly above the 2010 tally. Biologists had predicted that the harvest would be similar to higher because of the mast conditions and brood production and these predictions held true in 2011."
Top counties for 2011 were Randolph (142), Greenbrier (91), Preston (76), Pocahontas (68) and Monroe (63).
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