Buck numbers up slightly in 2013 season

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Despite some nasty weather during the early part of the 2013 buck hunting season, hunters found success in West Virginia. The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources released the preliminary harvest figures and reported hunters in the Mountain State killed 56,333 bucks during the two week firearm season.

The kill was up slightly from the 2012 final total of 56,276 bucks.

State game officials predicted ahead of the season the kill would be close to the 2012 figure, but were dialing back their predictions on days two and three of the season.  Although the opening day weather was pleasant, heavy rain struck much of West Virginia on Tuesday and the third day the state was under a blanket of snow. Typically 80 percent of the deer killed are taken in the first three days of the two week season.

Although the season totals were overall higher, the kill actually increased dramatically in the mid-Ohio Valley and slightly in the eastern panhandle.  The rest of the state’s biological districts saw a decline over the 2012 numbers.

The top ten counties of the harvest:  Jackson (1,914), Ritchie (1,909), Roane (1,878), Preston (1,753), Lewis (1,685), Hampshire (1,637), Braxton (1,623), Wood (1,599), Wetzel (1,534), and Greenbrier (1,529).

A number of counties also had a concurrent antlerless season ongoing during the two week buck season.  Data on the number of antlerless deer killed is not yet known and won’t be compiled until the antlerless seasons are over.

The data from the figures, once compiled, will be analyzed and will help formulate the state’s recommendations for bag limits and season dates next fall.  County by County totals for 2013 and the past five years of buck season are listed below.

 

West Virginia Antlered Deer Gun Harvest, 2009-2013

County

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Barbour

1307

875

1372

1177

1130

Brooke

377

337

413

405

386

Hancock

339

299

324

320

273

Harrison

1730

1053

1494

1385

1279

Marion

1183

764

1249

1089

1129

Marshall

1321

1087

1407

1294

1034

Monongalia

1536

1116

1508

1297

1107

Ohio

412

412

467

446

387

Preston

2122

2034

2224

2121

1753

Taylor

727

494

768

684

630

Tucker

874

743

738

640

512

Wetzel

1474

958

1615

1471

1534

Dist. I Subtotal

13,402

10,172

13,579

12,329

11,154

Berkeley

651

661

835

767

891

Grant

1228

959

1266

1249

1152

Hampshire

1634

1271

1676

1588

1637

Hardy

1601

1315

1589

1429

1426

Jefferson

461

482

447

526

443

Mineral

1158

947

1286

1181

1414

Morgan

573

457

601

602

747

Pendleton

1257

893

1391

1373

1174

Dist. II Subtotal

8,563

6,985

9,091

8,715

8,884

Braxton

1891

986

1468

1401

1623

Clay

552

353

519

528

490

Lewis

2227

1130

1586

1365

1685

Nicholas

1176

846

1279

1212

839

Pocahontas

1346

1100

1106

1152

976

Randolph

1930

1858

2032

1804

1328

Upshur

1383

1088

1612

1283

1483

Webster

901

807

1063

817

718

Dist. III Subtotal

11,406

8,168

10,665

9,562

9,142

Fayette

896

742

1005

992

845

Greenbrier

1976

1367

1783

1875

1529

McDowell

0

0

0

0

0

Mercer

604

362

647

682

534

Monroe

1569

1002

1364

1567

1307

Raleigh

706

446

739

736

588

Summers

931

536

865

1075

985

Wyoming

0

0

0

0

0

Dist. IV Subtotal

6,682

4,455

6,403

6,927

5,788

Boone

628

471

653

898

712

Cabell

695

464

705

750

750

Kanawha

1257

896

1275

1164

1370

Lincoln

860

747

1146

1319

1112

Logan

0

0

0

0

0

Mason

2099

1298

1944

1676

1515

Mingo

0

0

0

0

0

Putnam

1065

794

1170

1191

1205

Wayne

880

570

894

1041

981

Dist. V Subtotal

7,484

5,240

7,787

8,039

7,645

Calhoun

1124

570

962

770

1163

Doddridge

1416

767

1000

950

1199

Gilmer

1398

701

1029

911

1399

Jackson

2504

1225

1962

1628

1914

Pleasants

531

332

512

371

452

Ritchie

2010

1195

1701

1512

1909

Roane

2112

1049

1694

1391

1878

Tyler

1210

833

1189

922

1010

Wirt

1265

659

944

846

1197

Wood

1879

1110

1639

1403

1599

Dist. VI Subtotal

15,449

8,441

12,632

10,704

13,720

State Total

62,986

43,461

60,157

56,276

56,333

 





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