SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Biologists with the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources have completed the preliminary count of check tags from last fall’s deer hunting seasons in West Virginia. Hunters in the Mountain State killed a total of 104,223 deer during the various seasons.
The overall harvest was a 31 percent decline from the previous year and 25 percent below the five-year average.
The agency officials say the number of deer killed is comparable to the 2010 overall harvest in West Virginia which yielded just over 106,000 white tails. Both years the kill was impacted heavily by the abundant mast across the state.
Although the number of bucks killed in 2014 was significantly lower than the previous year, data indicates a larger percentage than normal sported a healthy set of antlers.
“The preliminary analysis of deer age data indicates that 25 percent of the antlered bucks brought to the game checking stations during the first three days of traditional buck firearm season were 3.5 years of age or old,” read a press release announcing the totals.
The breakdown on each season: Firearm Buck season 37,766 bucks, antlerless firearms hunting, 39,514 antlerless deer, archery season, 21,653 deer and 5,290 deer during muzzleloader season.
Top ten counties:
Antlerless Deer Season: Preston (1,859), Mason (1,446), Lewis (1,421), Upshur (1,365), Jackson (1,296), Ritchie (1,291), Randolph (1,285), Braxton (1,254), Harrison (1,253) and Monroe (1,214).
Muzzleloader Season: Randolph (295), Preston (265), Nicholas (251), Braxton (195), Lewis (193), Harrison (182), Fayette (164), Barbour (156), Mason (149) and Jackson (143).
Archery Season: Preston (968), Randolph (759), Kanawha (757), Mason (710), Wyoming (683), Nicholas (673) Fayette (647), Raleigh (635), Wood (602) and Logan (601).