SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The days of hunting for a check station across the state of West Virginia at the end of a long day of hunting are now a thing of the past. The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources on April 1 launched the next generation of technology with the electronic game check system for West Virginia.
“It’s a really unique thing,” said Chris Ryan, Biologist and overseer of the new program at DNR. “You can check it in from your tree stand. If you have a cell signal you can check it in over your phone or if you have a smartphone you can check it in on line.”
Hunters will have the options of on-line check in or telephone, but can also do the game check at any of the nearly 200 hunting and fishing license retailers around the state. A new wrinkle also removes the requirement to bring the dead animal to the check station for confirmation.
“That was a concern, but most hunters are ethical people. They’re going to check what they check,” said Ryan. “We wanted to make sure we had the telephone option for hunters and there’s no way to make people bring the animal to a physical location and still have the telephone option.”
The portals for the checking are www.wvhunt.com and the phone number is 1-844-WV-CHECK. If you’re wanting to check over the telephone however, you’ll need to have your DNR issued hunter identification number. The number is generated automatically when you buy your annual hunting license. However, you’ll have to locate that number if you’re one who isn’t required to buy an annual hunting license.
“If you’re a lifetime license holder of any kind they are already in the system,” said Ryan. “You can go to wvhunt.com and verify your information and it will give you your DNR I-D number. You can also go to a license agent and they can give it to you and it’s good for the rest of your life.”
Ryan said he expected folks who might be nervous about the new system would find it simple to navigate once they have the I-D number.
“Starting April 1st we have the beavers and trappers had a month to get those checked in,” said Ryan. “They’ve been using the system and starting April 27 with the spring gobbler season hunters will check in their game using the new method.”
All other game laws still apply. Hunters are still required to field tag the animal with all of the pertinent information and must have it checked within the allotted time frames allowed by law.
“Once you complete the game checking process, you’ll be given a 13 digit confirmation number,” Ryan said. “That tells the Natural Resources Police Officer you’ve completed the checking process. You can write it on the back of the field tag or you can write your name, address, and that field number on a piece of paper and attach it to the animal.”