Turkey hunters in Knox and five other western Illinois counties combined for a better harvest this year than last, a trend that was seen statewide.

Officials with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources say hunters across the state bagged nearly 15,800 wild turkeys during this year's Spring Turkey Season, a total that's second only to the 16,605 harvested in 2006. This year's harvest topped last year by 1,026. The various seasons in the state's North and South Zones wrapped last month.

The combined harvest for Knox, Warren, Fulton, Henderson, Henry and McDonough counties was 1,109 turkeys, which is 103 more than last year. Fulton County led the area with 415 turkeys harvested, good for the fourth highest total in the state. Knox County hunters took in 262 turkeys, an increase of 38 compared to last year's total. The harvest numbers were up in all counties except McDonough, but the drop-off there was only 8.

Paul Shelton, IDNR Forest Wildlife Program Manager, says officials are pleased with this year's spring turkey harvest despite some less than ideal weather conditions at times, especially in the South Zone.

The preliminary wild turkey harvest in the North Zone, which includes the Galesburg area, was 9,505---nearly 900 more than last year. The 6,287 turkeys harvested in the South Zone represents an increase of 162 versus the total from 2007.

The three counties with harvest totals larger than Fulton County were Jo Daviess, Pike and Adams.