| SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Preliminary figures for the 2014 fall turkey hunting season reveal that 1,016 turkeys were checked in, according to Curtis I. Taylor, chief of the Wildlife Resources Section of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. Statewide, the 2014 harvest was very similar to the 999 reported in 2013.
Three of the six administrative districts reported increases in harvest from 2013 levels ranging from a modest 4 percent increase in District 1 to a 69 percent increase in District 6, despite having two additional counties closed to hunting. Districts 2, 4 and 5 reported declines in harvest. The decline in District 5 was likely due to only one county being open to hunting in 2014, compared to five counties in 2013.
"Fall turkey harvests are highly influenced by hunter participation and interest, annual recruitment and hard mast conditions," said Taylor. "Turkey brood production was fairly good this year and it mimicked the 5-year average. Brood observations were 30 percent higher than last year and 15 percent better than 2012. These production improvements and better mast conditions led us to anticipate a similar fall harvest, which happened even with six fewer counties open to hunting."
Top counties for 2014 were Nicholas (90), Greenbrier (84), Randolph (83), Pocahontas (54) and Preston (53).
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