Joe Manchin III, Governor
Frank Jezioro, Director

News Release : November 15, 2007

Hoy Murphy, Public Information Officer (304) 558-3381 hoymurphy@wvdnr.gov
Contact: Paul Johansen, Wildlife Resources Section (304) 558-2771wildlife@wvdnr.gov

West Virginia Bucks Gun Season Fact Sheet

• The West Virginia bucks gun season is November 19 – December 1. It is open in all counties except Logan, Mingo, McDowell and Wyoming.
• Approximately 320,000 licensed hunters will be in West Virginia’s woods during this season.
• Hunters should review the 2007-2008 Hunting and Trapping Regulations summary for detailed instructions concerning bag limits and season dates. The regulations are online at www.wvdnr.gov
• A list of deer checking stations in West Virginia can be found online at www.wvdnr.gov/hunting/check_stations.asp
• The bag limit during the two week bucks season is two (one on the base license and one on an RG [resident] or RRG [nonresident] stamp). A hunter may take no more than three antlered deer per calendar year in all archery and firearms seasons combined.
• The last day to purchase an additional deer gun tag (class RG/RRG stamp) is November 18. Class RG and Class RRG additional buck stamps can only be used to take an additional antlered deer in bucks season. Unused Class RG and Class RRG may no longer be rolled over to later deer seasons.
• A concurrent antlerless deer season will be available in 41 counties on private land only during the two-week bucks-only gun season. This is not a “hunter’s choice” season, because hunters must have purchased the proper antlerless deer license (Class N for residents and Class NN for nonresidents) to participate. Hunters may take only one deer per day, therefore, a buck and an antlerless deer may not be taken on the same day. Class N and Class NN antlerless stamps are no longer county specific. See the 2007-2008 Hunting and Trapping Regulations for county specific regulations.
• All deer must be field tagged and checked in within 72 hours of the time of kill or within 24 hours of the close of the season, whichever comes first. Additional deer may not be taken until all previously taken deer have been checked. Only one deer may be taken per day during the bucks-only season.
• Deer hunting in West Virginia generates a total annual economic impact of $233-million, much of it in the rural areas of the state that depend upon the deer seasons for a large portion of their annual income.
• In 2006, deer hunters in West Virginia harvested 65,923 bucks during the two-week bucks-only season.
• The buck gun kill was up 16 percent in 2006 and biologists are predicting another good year of buck hunting. This year there was a large outbreak of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD). Normally, this disease occurs sporadically in a four - to five - year cycle during late August and early September and has little effect on the deer herd, but this year the disease was widespread and lasted well into October because of the warmer fall weather. Although there may be local reductions in the deer herd, look for the buck kill to be slightly higher than last year. The northern regions have good acorn crops, so deer will be less available in field edges. While the southern and mountain regions have poorer acorn crops and this will result in more bucks being killed in the fields. Hunters who have done their pre-season scouting and have located food sources for deer will have the best chance of success.
• Sunday hunting is legal in the following 14 counties on private land only: Boone, Brooke, Clay, Hancock, Jefferson, Lincoln, Logan, McDowell, Marshall, Mingo, Ohio, Wayne, Wetzel and Wyoming. The only Sunday that falls during the bucks-only gun season is November 25. Hunters are reminded that deer gun seasons are closed in Logan, Mingo, McDowell and Wyoming counties.
• Hunters are required to wear at least 400 square inches of blaze orange (about the size of a vest) as an outer garment for visibility and safety. Blaze orange camouflage patterns are legal as long as 400 square inches of blaze orange are displayed on the garment. A blaze orange hat is not required, but the hunter must have blaze orange visible from both the front and the back.
• Hunting licenses may be purchased online at any time and printed out on a home computer printer. Go to the goWILD! Web site at www.wvhunt.com, fill out the application, and purchase it over a secure server with a credit card.
• Hunters who wish to donate deer meat or dollars to the Hunters Helping the Hungry program, which distributes deer meat through the Mountaineer Food Bank and Huntington Food Bank, should call (304) 558-2771 or visit the DNR Web site at www.wvdnr.gov to find a participating meat processor.

**DNR**