A number of West Virginia hunters are doing something they’ve never done before, buying a bear stamp and hoping for a shot at a big bruin. Several West Virginia hunters are doing something else they’ve never done before– successfully killing a black bear on a hunt.
"We’ve actually had bow harvest this year in Jackson County and Calhoun County, it might be one of the first years we’ve had numerous harvests in District Six,” said Chris Ryan, the head of the bear management program with the West Virginia DNR.
Once confined to the secluded high mountains of West Virginia, the black bear is staging an amazing comeback. Bears are now present in all 55 West Virginia counties and the DNR has now documented reproduction in every county.
Southern West Virginia, particularly the Kanawha State Forest around Charleston has grown into one of the most prolific bear incubation zones on planet Earth.
"There are very few places in the world that turn out as many bears with the size and reproductive potential as bears in southern West Virginia," said Ryan in a recent appearance on West Virginia Outdoors.
The reason for the tremendous population and size of southern West Virginia bears is credited to several things. First, the area has a lot of food. Mast years vary year to year, but there is a healthy crop of oak and hickory in the steep mountains of the region. Secondly, there are alternative food sources that are not part of the habitat, such as garbage, dog food, and other human provisions. The DNR discourages this kind of availability, but recognizes it does play a role in the bear numbers. Lastly, and probably the most important, there is a much longer growing season for bruins in the south. Bears in the northern mountains of West Virginia are typically denned up by mid December where snowfall can become five feet deep and stay until the middle of April. The hibernation times in southern West Virginia are short and rarely are snows so abundant that bears are kept down for any extended period of time. Ryan says that short sleep allows the bears to eat longer and produce more cubs with a more robust diet.
"They have a lot of different diverse food sources and the winters down here are a lot less severe than up in Randolph and Tucker County are Blackwater and Cheat." Said Ryan.
The DNR recently completed a comprehensive survey of bear hunters in the state. The research finds more than half of bear hunting in West Virginia involves archery.
"Primarily there was about 50-percent of the hunters said they primarily archery hunted, now they may go a different way during dog season or without dogs. Twenty-six percent said they hunted with guns, but no dogs and 24-percent said they used dogs while bear hunting primarily," said Ryan.
The DNR has loosed some of the hunting restrictions on taking a bear, particularly in southern West Virginia where there’s been a need to control some of the big males who are creating havoc among landowners in areas like Paint Creek and Cabin Creek. You can learn more about the DNR’s various bear seasons by clicking here.
"Our bear season forecast is going to be pretty spotty,” said Ryan. "While we have a tremendous bear population in the state, as we’ve shown through previous research that’s greatly affected by mast conditions. It’s wise for a bear hunter to get out there and scout a little bit."