2012 was another banner year for bear hunters in West Virginia. In fact, the DNR says after counting check tags it was another record for black bears killed during a season.
Hunters killed 2,683 bears during the archery and firearms hunting seasons combined. The numbers are an increase of 34% over the 2011 harvest of just 2,009 bears. It represented a 12% increase over the previous record year in 2010. It’s also the fourth time in the past five years the harvest has exceeded 2,000.
“As predicted in the 2012 DNR Mast Survey and Hunting Outlook publication, mast conditions had a tremendous influence on the distribution of this year’s bear harvest,” said DNR Bear Project Leader Colin Carpenter. “The statewide oak mast index for 2012 was much higher than in 2011 but the distribution was spotty. This fact, combined with two additional weeks of archery hunting, allowed archers to locate bears effectively and led to an increased archery harvest.”
The three firearms seasons were highly successful as well.
“Abundant oak mast keeps bears active into the winter and makes these bears vulnerable to harvest during concurrent buck-gun and bear seasons and the traditional December firearms season. Favorable mast conditions, combined with multiple counties open during September, led to a large increase in the firearms harvest.”
Top five counties during archery season were Webster where 71 bears were killed. Followed by Nicholas, Randolph, Fayette, and Preston Counties.
Firearms hunters killed a total of 1,937 bears in 2012. 681 were killed in the early September season. Hunters took another 266 during the concurrent buck/bear season, and 990 were killed during the traditional December hunting season.
The top five counties were Pocahontas County with 183 bears killed, followed by Pendleton, Randolph, Webster, and Greenbrier Counties.
|
2012 WEST VIRGINIA BLACK BEAR HARVEST |
|||||
| County |
Archery |
September |
Buck Gun |
December |
Total |
| Barbour |
27 |
2 |
0 |
13 |
42 |
| Brooke |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Hancock |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Harrison |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
| Marion |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Marshall |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Monongalia |
3 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
8 |
| Ohio |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Preston |
51 |
15 |
37 |
28 |
131 |
| Taylor |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
| Tucker |
17 |
38 |
0 |
37 |
92 |
| Wetzel |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Dist. I Subtotal |
109 |
55 |
42 |
79 |
285 |
| Berkeley |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
| Grant |
18 |
46 |
0 |
50 |
114 |
| Hampshire |
16 |
0 |
46 |
10 |
72 |
| Hardy |
17 |
44 |
0 |
85 |
146 |
| Jefferson |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| Mineral |
5 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
15 |
| Morgan |
2 |
0 |
11 |
5 |
18 |
| Pendleton |
16 |
84 |
0 |
95 |
195 |
| Dist. II Subtotal |
78 |
174 |
57 |
256 |
565 |
| Braxton |
15 |
5 |
0 |
21 |
41 |
| Clay |
10 |
5 |
0 |
32 |
47 |
| Lewis |
7 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
13 |
| Nicholas |
67 |
31 |
0 |
39 |
137 |
| Pocahontas |
11 |
56 |
0 |
127 |
194 |
| Randolph |
57 |
58 |
0 |
105 |
220 |
| Upshur |
11 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
22 |
| Webster |
71 |
73 |
0 |
78 |
222 |
| Dist. III Subtotal |
249 |
228 |
0 |
419 |
896 |
| Fayette |
55 |
46 |
59 |
32 |
192 |
| Greenbrier |
38 |
50 |
0 |
98 |
186 |
| McDowell |
34 |
21 |
0 |
12 |
67 |
| Mercer |
13 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
14 |
| Monroe |
19 |
0 |
0 |
15 |
34 |
| Raleigh |
21 |
21 |
23 |
7 |
72 |
| Summers |
13 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
13 |
| Wyoming |
32 |
12 |
0 |
7 |
51 |
| Dist. IV Subtotal |
225 |
150 |
82 |
172 |
629 |
| Boone |
17 |
32 |
44 |
20 |
113 |
| Cabell |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Kanawha |
24 |
29 |
41 |
25 |
119 |
| Lincoln |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| Logan |
30 |
10 |
0 |
11 |
51 |
| Mason |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Mingo |
6 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
11 |
| Putnam |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Wayne |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| Dist. V Subtotal |
79 |
74 |
85 |
60 |
298 |
| Calhoun |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| Doddridge |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Gilmer |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
| Jackson |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Pleasants |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Ritchie |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Roane |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
| Tyler |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Wirt |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Wood |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Dist. VI Subtotal |
6 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
10 |
| State Total |
746 |
681 |
266 |
990 |
2683 |