Best Spring Turkey Counties in Virginia: Southampton and Bedford Nearly Tie

ITop of the list

Southampton's narrow lead over Bedford: 16 birds

Hunters in Southampton County reported 679 spring turkeys for 2026; those in Bedford County recorded 663. Fauquier placed third at 481 birds, trailing Bedford by 182. Next came Halifax with 463, Augusta with 461, Franklin with 448 and Pittsylvania with 445. From Halifax to Carroll, the counties ranked fourth through tenth differ by just 41 birds, with totals of 463 versus 422.

Southampton and Bedford top Virginia's county rankings for reported turkey harvest. Each exceeded its average for 2021 to 2025: Southampton's was 602 and Bedford's 575. Their respective gains were 77 and 88 birds.

The bars make the leaders' separation from the rest clear. Only Southampton and Bedford exceed 500 birds among counties. Their 16-bird difference is narrower than the 18-bird gap between Fauquier in third place and Halifax in fourth.

IISix springs

First place changes hands

The Virginia county data we use begin with 2021 and cover six spring seasons. Southampton took first place four times: 2022 and 2024, followed by 2025 and 2026. Bedford led twice, during 2021 and 2023. In four of those six seasons, the difference between their totals was no greater than 16 birds: 13 for 2021, 12 for 2023, 11 for 2025, then 16 for 2026. The other years were 2022, with Southampton leading by 48, and 2024, with a Southampton advantage of 101.

Over these six spring seasons, Southampton recorded 3,690 birds and Bedford recorded 3,539, leaving a gap of 151. Franklin County holds third with 3,032 birds, trailing Bedford by 507. Southampton's first-place rank describes the combined reported harvest. These figures cannot establish which county provides better hunting.

IIICities and counties

A shared name on separate rows

In the department's county harvest report for 2026, 32 cities appear on separate lines alongside county totals. Our table includes two county names also used by cities: Bedford County reported 663 birds, while the City of Bedford had 1; Franklin County reported 448, while the City of Franklin had 2. When searching harvest figures for "Bedford" or "Franklin", make sure you identify the row.

City totals are mostly small. Of the 32 city rows, just three exceed nine birds in any year within the report's three-year coverage: Suffolk logged 405 for 2026, Chesapeake had 152 and Virginia Beach had 47. Among the top 15, Suffolk is the lone city. Its 11th-place total beats Westmoreland County's 404 by one bird. The department has reported Suffolk totals ranging from 298 to 405 for each spring beginning in 2021. Combined, these three larger city totals reach 604 birds, or about 2.5% of Virginia's harvest.

IVNear miss

344 birds below the 2023 mark

Adding our county figures produces 24,103 birds for 2026, a 17.2% increase over the 20,565 recorded for 2025. That leaves the total 344 short of the 2023 peak, 24,447, which leads the six-season record we use. For 2026, the gain was 3,538 birds, less than the increase of 4,736 from 2022 into 2023. A change of this scale therefore has precedent within our short record.

The department's 2026 summary tallies 24,105 birds and points to ideal hunting weather, with few wet or cold days, as the reason. Opening weekend accounted for 5,895 birds, or 24.5% of the harvest reported in that summary. East of the Blue Ridge, the reported total was 16,349 birds (67.8%), compared with 7,756 (32.2%) to the west. The weather explanation comes from the department; a table of reported harvest cannot establish whether it is right. The summary also notes that population measures in some areas of Virginia are slipping below the goals set in the department's turkey management plan. A big harvest year therefore leaves the question of flock size unresolved. The 17.2% increase places fourth among seven in our Southeast comparison.

VChecked against the state

What these figures measure

Every figure tallies spring-season turkeys reported to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. We added those reports separately for each county and independent city using the agency's turkey information pages, then checked our figures against its county reports. The department's 2026 ranking of the top ten counties agrees with ours at every position and count. Statewide figures agree exactly for 2022 to 2025. The difference is 1 bird for 2021, where its 20,541 exceeds our 20,540, and 2 for 2026, with 24,105 in its report versus 24,103 in ours. Its published chart extends to 1961; our record begins with 2021. Here, "high" refers to the largest total across those six spring seasons.

Reported harvest totals reflect how many hunters participate, where they have access and how much land a county covers. None of those factors is adjusted for. More acreage alone can put a county high in the rankings.

VITwo-county rule

Choose based on the ground rather than the ranking

Put Southampton and Bedford in the same tier. The 16-bird difference is small compared with the variation each county shows across its own six spring seasons: Southampton ranges from 524 to 681; Bedford ranges from 476 to 691. Both have led in at least two of those springs. Let the places where you can secure permission guide your choice between them. In its 2026 summary, the department reports 22,278 birds (92.4%) from private property, making these county rankings a guide to permission for most hunters. On public land, federal acreage accounted for 1,361 birds; state acreage supplied 466.

Read the names on those rows before making a trip. When a source uses Bedford or Franklin, look for the prefix "City of". Below the leading pair, every county from Fauquier through Carroll reported a total between 422 and 481 birds. That next drop is small enough for access and driving time to guide the choice. For a look at how the leading counties in another Southeast state compare against their long-term record, see our Kentucky county paper, which applies that comparison in Kentucky.