SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Numbers released Tuesday afternoon by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources reveal hunters killed 44,455 bucks during the recently concluded two week buck hunting season in West Virginia.
The total is very near the harvest of 46,071 bucks killed last season. Officials say the number of bucks taken in the eastern panhandle was the sharpest increase. Southeastern West Virginia counties also saw a bump upward while the harvest dipped slighting in other regions of the state.
The top 10 counties for the buck harvest were: Preston (1,959), Randolph (1,647), Greenbrier (1,631), Hampshire (1,394), Ritchie (1,347), Monroe (1,302), Braxton (1,243), Lewis (1,216), Hardy (1,201) and Grant (1,198).
There are still several days of deer hunting left in 2017, including the remainder of the muzzleloader season, which runs through Saturday, Dec. 9. The traditional antlerless deer season in selected counties on both public and private land opens Thursday, Dec. 14, and runs through Saturday, Dec. 16.
The Youth, Class Q/QQ and Class XS deer season for antlerless deer will be open Dec. 26 and 27 in any county with a firearms deer season. This will be followed by the reopening of Class N/NN antlerless deer season Dec. 28-31 in specified counties or portions of counties.
Here are the county-by-county harvest figures:
| West Virginia Buck Firearms Season Harvest 2013-2017 | ||||||
| County | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
| Barbour | 1,109 | 886 | 1,281 | 1,098 | 988 | |
| Brooke | 389 | 251 | 286 | 268 | 177 | |
| Hancock | 273 | 200 | 208 | 209 | 170 | |
| Harrison | 1,301 | 930 | 1,418 | 1,138 | 1,019 | |
| Marion | 1,130 | 702 | 1,190 | 765 | 740 | |
| Marshall | 1,051 | 707 | 818 | 727 | 625 | |
| Monongalia | 1,107 | 689 | 1,023 | 827 | 830 | |
| Ohio | 399 | 232 | 290 | 270 | 182 | |
| Preston | 1,741 | 1,526 | 2,046 | 1,774 | 1,959 | |
| Taylor | 635 | 453 | 732 | 581 | 491 | |
| Tucker | 527 | 494 | 783 | 730 | 825 | |
| Wetzel | 1,537 | 891 | 1,144 | 899 | 827 | |
| Dist. 1 Subtotal | 11,199 | 7,961 | 11,219 | 9,286 | 8,833 | |
| Berkeley | 871 | 522 | 908 | 737 | 761 | |
| Grant | 1,135 | 783 | 1,304 | 954 | 1,198 | |
| Hampshire | 1,846 | 1,094 | 1,947 | 1,197 | 1,394 | |
| Hardy | 1,447 | 920 | 1,709 | 1,076 | 1,201 | |
| Jefferson | 445 | 385 | 499 | 422 | 433 | |
| Mineral | 1,345 | 835 | 1,335 | 922 | 1,015 | |
| Morgan | 743 | 412 | 678 | 437 | 505 | |
| Pendleton | 1,163 | 861 | 1,297 | 1,088 | 1,026 | |
| Dist. 2 Subtotal | 8,995 | 5,812 | 9,677 | 6,833 | 7,533 | |
| Braxton | 1,626 | 921 | 1,660 | 1,102 | 1,243 | |
| Clay | 475 | 329 | 618 | 390 | 484 | |
| Lewis | 1,692 | 1,166 | 1,875 | 1,246 | 1,216 | |
| Nicholas | 824 | 871 | 1,274 | 1,044 | 992 | |
| Pocahontas | 961 | 831 | 1,008 | 921 | 1,047 | |
| Randolph | 1,329 | 1,291 | 1,659 | 1,617 | 1,647 | |
| Upshur | 1,396 | 1,009 | 1,704 | 1,399 | 1,036 | |
| Webster | 717 | 632 | 1,080 | 941 | 776 | |
| Dist. 3 Subtotal | 9,020 | 7,050 | 10,878 | 8,660 | 8,441 | |
| Fayette | 835 | 725 | 1,214 | 889 | 933 | |
| Greenbrier | 1,509 | 1,372 | 1,816 | 1,447 | 1,631 | |
| McDowell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Mercer | 536 | 402 | 843 | 636 | 605 | |
| Monroe | 1,466 | 1,004 | 1,462 | 1,099 | 1,302 | |
| Raleigh | 579 | 506 | 895 | 648 | 602 | |
| Summers | 973 | 657 | 999 | 657 | 813 | |
| Wyoming | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dist. 4 Subtotal | 5,898 | 4,666 | 7,229 | 5,376 | 5,886 | |
| Boone | 725 | 519 | 868 | 573 | 682 | |
| Cabell | 763 | 421 | 641 | 677 | 404 | |
| Kanawha | 1,380 | 730 | 1,547 | 1,058 | 1,059 | |
| Lincoln | 1,124 | 720 | 1,312 | 846 | 572 | |
| Logan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Mason | 1,495 | 1,002 | 1,488 | 1,267 | 881 | |
| Mingo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Putnam | 1,210 | 565 | 1,114 | 992 | 633 | |
| Wayne | 870 | 528 | 963 | 815 | 452 | |
| Dist. 5 Subtotal | 7,567 | 4,485 | 7,933 | 6,228 | 4,683 | |
| Calhoun | 1,164 | 504 | 1,063 | 705 | 743 | |
| Doddridge | 1,243 | 615 | 1,376 | 946 | 948 | |
| Gilmer | 1,427 | 669 | 1,435 | 791 | 880 | |
| Jackson | 1,917 | 1,107 | 1,870 | 1,487 | 1,099 | |
| Pleasants | 438 | 273 | 492 | 334 | 321 | |
| Ritchie | 2,091 | 1,123 | 2,024 | 1,422 | 1,347 | |
| Roane | 1,893 | 927 | 1,846 | 1,178 | 1,191 | |
| Tyler | 1,000 | 566 | 1,064 | 855 | 818 | |
| Wirt | 1,091 | 681 | 1,152 | 777 | 745 | |
| Wood | 1,580 | 1,011 | 1,556 | 1,193 | 987 | |
| Dist. 6 Subtotal | 13,844 | 7,476 | 13,878 | 9,688 | 9,079 | |
| State Total | 56,523 | 37,450 | 60,814 | 46,071 | 44,455 | |