West Virginia's Best Spring Turkey Counties: Mason Has Led 8 of 11 Years

IOne county's habit

Mason claimed the spring lead 8 times across 11 seasons

During spring 2026, Mason County recorded 523 turkey checks, more than any county statewide. Its lead over Preston County (436) was 87 birds. Jackson County ranked third at 404, followed by Harrison (372) and Marshall (335). The state's Division of Natural Resources (DNR) publishes that same county lineup and ranking in its report for 2026.

That lead has repeated often. The county records we have span 11 spring seasons: Mason won 8 and Preston won 3. Nobody else took the county lead. The last ten seasons yield a 7 to 3 split, with Mason and Preston sharing all ten spring leads.

Over ten seasons, Mason accumulated 4,613 checked birds, giving it a 365-bird advantage over Preston's 4,248. Preston sits 311 birds above Jackson (3,937), which ranks third. The DNR's report for spring 2020 used preliminary counts and gave the leading trio the same ranking: Mason at 457, Preston at 434 and Jackson at 402.

IIA quarter share

About a quarter of the spring birds checked in Mason's district come from Mason

The DNR groups the counties into six districts. Its county figures for 2026 place Mason alongside eight other counties in District 5. For each of the five spring seasons covered, spanning 2022 to 2026, Mason contributed 25.2% to 26.4% of checked birds in District 5. The county and district counts were 351 out of 1,392 during 2022; 559 out of 2,148 during 2023; 501 out of 1,897 during 2024; 476 out of 1,889 during 2025; and 523 out of 1,981 during 2026. For Preston County, the share in the twelve-county District 1 ranged from 14.7% to 17.3% during those years.

Within that period, Mason lost the lead only in 2022. Statewide spring harvest that season was the smallest in our record series. Preston checked 357, beating the 351 from Mason by six birds. During the next four springs, Mason recorded between 476 and 559.

IIIFifteen counties

Each county cleared its own average

The 15 counties leading the spring 2026 harvest appear below, along with checks from 2025 and averages for the prior five years.

Each of the 15 exceeded its average from 2021 to 2025. Mason was ahead by 73 birds, with 523 compared with 450. Randolph (318 versus 244) and Marion (286 versus 226) posted the largest proportional increases: 1.30 and 1.27 times their respective averages. Fayette matched Randolph at 318. Combined, the leading ten counties produced 30.1% of statewide spring checks. Gains occurred in 47 among 55 counties compared with 2025, while 7 recorded declines.

IVUnder 2018

Spring totals surpassed 12,000 in three seasons

Statewide harvest exceeded 12,000 in three seasons: 2018 brought 12,287, 2023 brought 12,217, and 2026 brought 12,006. All remaining seasons spanning 2016 to 2026 came in under 11,700. The minimum was 9,366 during 2022. From 2023 to 2025, harvest dropped by 1,523 birds, reaching 10,694. A gain of 1,312 in 2026 recovered most of the drop, though 2026 remained 281 below the 2018 count. The DNR report places 2026 above the five-year mean, 10,812, and the ten-year mean, 11,243. West Virginia's increase of 12.3% placed sixth among seven in our Southeast comparison.

For a single low-harvest year, the DNR offered an explanation. The agency's harvest report for spring 2021 describes relatively low turkey production observed by field staff during 2019. Most spring turkeys taken are 2 years old, according to the report, which links the 10,134 birds harvested in 2021 to that low production. None of the releases we reviewed explains the 2022 low. That question would also remain unanswered by a county table.

VReading the sources

What goes into the harvest figures

West Virginia requires hunters to check game, and the DNR county table totals those checks. Its data span 2022 to 2026, although the title labels them 2021 to 2025. We followed the column headings, which show 2022 to 2026. All five statewide totals in that table agree with our figures: 9,366; then 12,217; then 11,650; then 10,694; then 12,006. Our totals for 2021 and 2020 are 10,134 and 11,320, respectively, the same as those in the DNR's 2021 report. The agency's 2020 report listed a preliminary 11,314, which is six birds below the revised total.

County figures include the youth season. According to the 2026 release, hunters took 875 birds during the two-day youth hunt, a 7.3% share of the total, and those birds are counted in the county tallies. A district figure in the report appears mistyped. District 4 is shown as 1,983, whereas summing the DNR table's county figures yields 1,938. Using 1,938 is the only way the six districts add up to 12,006.

Effort by hunters, county size and access all affect these totals. The figures make no adjustment for any of those factors. Mason's figure identifies where hunters reported the most turkeys, though the county may or may not have the greatest turkey density.

VIAnchor first

Make Mason your reference, then consider another county

Treat Mason as the reference county, with Preston its sole rival proven by these records. The top ten for 2026 and the top ten across 2017 to 2026 share seven counties: Mason and Preston, Jackson and Harrison, plus Marshall, Fayette and Greenbrier. Randolph, Nicholas and Raleigh earned places among 2026's top ten but missed the ten-season ranking. Wood, Kanawha and Upshur appear in the ten-season ranking but missed 2026's top ten. Wood makes the gap clearest, ranking 12th for 2026 with 289 birds and fifth across the decade with 3,124.

When access to Mason County ground is out of reach, pick among the seven counties with established records. Revisit the three rising counties once next spring's table arrives. Virginia's result differs: its two leading counties swapped the lead and had harvests 16 birds apart during 2026, as described in our Virginia paper. West Virginia, meanwhile, has a dominant county with only one rival. For any county you choose, ask who owns the land first. A game-check tally cannot show which acres are open.