SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR) announced today that hunters harvested 981 wild turkeys during the 2023 Fall Wild Turkey Season.
Due to the lower brood production this year, the 2023 harvest saw a slight decrease of three percent over the 2022 harvest of 1,012 birds. However, this season was one percent above the five-year average and 12 percent below the 10-year average.
Fall turkey harvest numbers are influenced by hunter participation but also depend on the current year’s brood production and mast conditions. Brood production in 2023 was lower than last year. However, more counties were open for a two-week fall season due to a higher spring gobbler harvest than last year.
Districts one and four increased their harvest over 2022, with the others showing a slight decline. District four had the highest harvest (229 birds), followed by District three (215), District one (165), District two (142), District six (119) and District five (111).
Counties with the most harvests were Nicholas County (57 birds), Greenbrier (46), Monroe (43), Randolph (42) and Fayette (32). These counties, except Fayette, had a four-week season.