For hunters who like to compare straight numbers, despite the land acreage differences in counties, that information is available as well.

This listing begins with Fairfield County in the No. 1 slot with 962 turkeys harvested in 2007. In second was Orangeburg County with 886 gobblers taken. Close behind in third was Berkeley County with 877 turkeys taken.

The fourth slot belonged to Williamsburg County with 851 turkeys harvested. A distant fifth place was Colleton County with 791 turkeys harvested. In sixth place was Hampton County with 715 turkeys taken, followed by Chester County in seventh place with 660 turkeys.

The eighth most productive county was York County with a harvest of 658 turkeys. In ninth place was Union County with 652 birds taken and the final spot in the top 10 went to Abbeville County with 636 gobblers harvested.

Another way to use this data to better nail down turkey hotspots is to see which counties are included on both lists. Each list is indicative of potentially good areas. Counties that rank in the top 10 on each list have an overall high harvest and also a good harvest rate per square mile of land.

There are six counties that overlap on harvest data comparisons. Fairfield County certainly has to be considered a highly productive county by ranking third on turkeys harvested per unit area and first in total harvest. Abbeville was first in harvest per unit area and 10th on the total harvest. Hampton County was fifth on harvest per unit area and sixth on total harvest. Chester County was sixth on harvest per unit area and seventh on total harvest. York County was fourth on harvest per unit area and seventh in total harvest and Union County was second on harvest per unit area and ninth on total harvest.

You can make your own decisions on which combinations are best in terms of providing the best turkey-hunting opportunities. But the odds are good any of these six crossover counties are very good bets for turkey hunting in 2008.

Ruth also emphasized that there are localized hotspots that can be found throughout the state. Isolated areas where reproduction and recruitment were better than the rest of the areas are possible. Some large areas that are intensely managed with wildlife practices that favor wild turkeys can also have a significant influence. If you have access to these managed areas, there are really no bad places to hunt turkeys in South Carolina.

Use the above data to help you plan your turkey-hunting strategy this spring. Comparatively speaking, there will be plenty of 3-year-old and older gobblers in the woods in 2008. Some hunters may have to adapt their tactics to these wise old wizards of the spring woods.

But they will gobble; and we will hunt them.