There is a good way to measure the success of Washington's turkey hunting. Look at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's Game Harvest Reports.

During the first turkey season in 1984, a total of 64 birds were killed, and hunting was limited to Klickitat, Asotin, Columbia, Lincoln and Stevens counties. Two years ago, on the 20th anniversary of Washington's first turkey season, Evergreen State hunters killed nearly 5,800 birds during the spring season. They could pursue them from the Pacific Ocean to the Idaho border and from the upper reaches of Columbia River down into the Columbia Gorge.

Along with the increase in bird kills comes hunter interest. Whereas fewer than 1,000 turkey hunters went into the woods pursuing these majestic birds in 1984, more than 28,000 of them purchased a tag to hunt turkeys in 2004. Ah, but don't let that figure convince you that the woods are overcrowded with turkey hunters! The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife reports that about 50 percent of tag holders didn't even hunt in 2004, the last year for which harvest records are available.

When you consider that turkeys are not even native to Washington, the progress of these intelligent, tough and tasty birds is impressive -- a rare bright note in fish and game management in recent years. No hunting existed for them until 1984. The first turkeys were released in 1960 along the Columbia River Gorge in Klickitat County, and they were followed with plants in northeast Washington, primarily Stevens County, in the early '60s. They moved along at a fairly slow pace until the mid-1980s, when a more aggressive stocking program was implemented.

Today hunters can choose between three different subspecies of turkeys in Washington, and hunt them in widely diverse settings. Merriam's, native to the southwestern United States, thrive in the riparian lowlands and foothills in Klickitat, Ferry, Okanogan and Stevens counties. Rio Grand turkeys, which hail from Texas, New Mexico and the western plains, have found the shrubby bottoms and arid slopes of southeast Washington's Blue Mountains to their liking. The Eastern turkeys, the traditional bird of eastern woodlands, have been released widely in southwest Washington, the Puget Sound region and coastal counties.

Though hunters who want to take a turkey near home can find birds in each of the WDFW's six regions, the bulk of the harvest occurs in a half-dozen concentrated areas.

In recent years, northeastern Washington has accounted for more than 1,000 birds annually and is Washington's most productive turkey hunting region. Known by the Washington Department of Fish ad Wildlife as Population Management Unit 10, it yielded 1,319 birds in 2000, more than 10 times the number of any other region that year. Hunters killed more than 3,400 birds in 2002 and another 3,333 in 2003 before last year's totaled skyrocketed to a record 4,441 birds killed in the spring season, with another 115 shot during the fall.

The Blue Mountains and their foothills turn out several hundred turkeys each spring. The last three years for which records are available show kills of 533, 443 and 471, respectively.

Klickitat County remains a very popular and dependable turkey hunting destination, holding steady from year to year with 300, 329 and 301 birds reported killed in 2002, 2003 and 2004, respectively.

Region 2's Okanogan County is the most productive area in the north-central part of the state, which has experienced phenomenal growth in turkey numbers and hunters interest. That has resulted in a near-doubling of turkey kills over the past three recorded years. In 2002, hunters in the north-central region killed just 119 turkeys during the spring season. In 2003 that number jumped to 176 birds, and in 2004 in jumped again to 209 gobblers.

Increasing numbers of Yakima County hunters have begun to target its Merriam's turkeys as well, though the numbers aren't yet as impressive as in other regions. And you have to work pretty hard to take a turkey west of the Cascades, though the harvest statistics are improving, especially in the northwest. In 2002, hunters killed just seven turkeys there. In 2004 the hunter harvest reached 26 gobblers. If you insist on hunting Western Washington, probably your best chances occur in Thurston, Pacific and Grays Harbor counties.