STAFF REPORTS
The Preston County News & Journal
SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Preliminary data collected from the electronic game checking system indicate deer hunters in West Virginia harvested 45,871 bucks during the two-week buck firearms season which ran from Nov. 21 through Dec. 3, according to Paul Johansen, chief of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (DNR) Wildlife Resources Section.
The 2016 buck harvest is down 25 percent from the 2015 harvest of 60,814. Despite the drop, Preston County led the state with a buck harvest of 1,769. Randolph County was next with 1,610. The rest of the top 10 counties for buck harvest this year are: Jackson (1,482), Greenbrier (1,445), Ritchie (1,414), Upshur (1,392), Mason (1,266), Lewis (1,238), Hampshire (1,183) and Wood (1,182).
The buck harvest decreased in all six DNR districts. The buck season harvest was predicted to decrease in the Mast Survey and Hunting Outlook brochure, primarily because of an increased number of acorns in 2016 compared to acorn crop production in 2015. In addition, high winds across much of the state limited deer activity and decreased success rates on the first two days of the season.
Johansen reminds hunters that several days of deer hunting opportunity still remain for 2016, including the remainder of the muzzleloader season, which runs through Saturday, Dec. 10.
The traditional antlerless deer season in selected counties on both public and private land opens Thursday, Dec. 15, and runs through Saturday, Dec. 17.
Visit the DNR website at www.wvdnr.gov for county and area listings and additional information.
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