FLATWOODS, W.Va. — Hunting is a strong tradition in many parts of West Virginia, according to the assistant chief of game management with the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.
“Many of those traditions are passed down from father to son or father or daughter, uncle to a youngster, it’s just part of the West Virginia fabric,” said Paul Johansen.
The tradition continued Monday on opening day of the buck gun season in the Mountain State. An antlerless season runs concurrently with the buck season through Dec. 6.
In more than two dozen counties, it’s also bear gun season.
To mark the day, Johansen was a guest on Monday’s MetroNews “Talkline” from a deer check station in Flatwoods.
“We’ve seen several nice bucks come in,” Johansen reported. “Probably the most notable was a nice dandy buck that was taken by a really young girl, I think her dad said she was around ten years old. It was a beautiful buck that she took.”
By the end of the season in two weeks, Johansen predicted between 55,000 and 60,000 bucks will be harvested in the Mountain State — in line with the 2013 numbers.
The season started out with warm and windy weather in West Virginia. Later in the day, wind gusts were clocked at 50 miles per hour in some places. Cooler temperatures were in the forecast for Tuesday with snow possible in some areas, especially in the eastern mountain counties, by Wednesday.
No matter the weather, “Any time you can be out in the woods and attempting to harvest a deer in the woods of West Virginia, that’s a good day,” Johansen said.
Full hunting regulations are available on the DNR’s website.