Rounding out the top 10 in this category was McCormick County with an acres to turkey harvest number of 602. There was a 21.8 percent increase here in 2005 from 2004. In seventh place was Cherokee County with a total of 617 acres per turkey harvested. Cherokee County had a 17.6 percent increase in 2005 over the 2004 harvest. In eighth place in this category was our No. 1 county in total harvest, Williamsburg County, with a total of 634 acres per turkey harvested. Williamsburg had an 11.6 percent increase in 2005. In ninth was Abbeville with 643 acres per turkey harvested. Strangely, there was a drop in harvest from the previous year of 9.6 percent in this category. This was the only county in the top 10 to report a harvest decrease in the acres per turkey harvested category.

Rounding out the top 10 was Newberry County, with a figure of 645 acres per turkey harvested. Newberry County was also No. 8 in total harvest. There was a 23.6 percent increase in harvest here, which is also a very positive indicator.

But let's don't end there. Talking with many hunters and experiencing it myself, I cannot leave out Laurens County from a list of top places to hunt. Laurens ranked 11th in total harvest and 13th in acres per turkey harvested, both of which are quite respectable. However, during the last week of the season, I hunted up there a couple of days and heard numerous gobblers in the woods. I'd call this a sleeper hotspot for 2006. Also, there is a good bit of WMA land available here to hunt.

A few more places are certainly worth mentioning. I know Hurricane Hugo occurred way back in 1989, but some of the habitat devastation produced by Hugo seems to finally be receding, at least from the turkeys' point of view. Berkeley County experienced a whopping 90.3 percent increase in turkey harvest last year, which is astounding, even for a good year. I would expect the recovery trend to continue, so this might be an excellent spot to consider as well. Another county with a huge harvest improvement in the acres per turkey harvested was Lexington County with a 90 percent increase.

Chesterfield did not make either of the top 10 lists, but there was a 51.3 percent improvement in this county in the acres per turkey harvested category in 2005 over the 2004 season.

Certainly, there is the likelihood of finding local hotspots in any county in the state. Often some landowners will focus on turkeys and by managing the land will have excellent populations of turkeys in counties otherwise not listed above. However, for the big picture, this information should certainly give you some good places to hunt in 2006 that will have a higher than usual success rate.

Charles Ruth noted that the turkey season opens April 1 and closes May 1 in most areas of the state and on all public lands with turkey hunting statewide. He added there are 12 Lowcountry counties where the season opens on March 15 on private lands.

Plan now for your spring turkey hunting success and be prepared to stick with it throughout the season. All indications are for another good year for turkey harvest in 2006.

The gobblers are available in good numbers . . . all we have to do is call them in.