2008 West Virginia Buck Season Fact Sheet
– The West Virginia buck season is November 24 – December 6. 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 2008-2009 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 buck 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 23. Class RG and Class RRG additional buck stamps can only be used to take an additional antlered deer in buck season. Unused Class RG and Class RRG stamps may not be used in antlerless or muzzleloader seasons.
– A concurrent antlerless deer season will be available in all or portions of 44 counties on private land only during the entire two-week buck season and beginning November 26 through the remainder of the buck season on specified public land. 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 2008-2009 Hunting and Trapping Regulations Summary for county and public lands 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 buck 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 2007, deer hunters in West Virginia harvested 67,213 bucks during the two-week buck season, an increase of 1.7 percent from the previous year.
– Based upon scouting reports and mast production, DNR is looking for the buck kill to be slightly higher than last year. Poor weather conditions last year during the first week of buck season resulted in a large number of antlered deer carrying over to this hunting period, meaning more and bigger bucks will be harvested. 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 is open in these counties during the buck season is November 30. 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 the Huntington Food Bank, should call (304) 558-2771 or visit the DNR Web site at www.wvdnr.gov to find a participating meat processor.
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