Outdoor News Daily

Preliminary counts of game checking tags indicate West Virginia hunters harvested a total of 132,323 white-tailed deer during the recently completed bucks-only, antlerless, muzzleloader, archery and youth/Class Q deer seasons, according to Division of Natural Resources Director Frank Jezioro. This year’s total harvest was 24 percent above the 2010 deer harvest of 106,499. A total of 60,516 bucks, 38,381 antlerless season deer, 26,136 bow-killed deer and 7,290 muzzleloader season deer were taken during the 2011 seasons. The top ten counties for total deer harvest are: Preston (5,712), Mason (5,181), Jackson (4,782), Wood (4,173), Upshur (3,883), Lewis (3,815), Monongalia (3,785), Randolph (3,783), Braxton (3,701) and Roane (3,607).

Antlerless Deer Season

The 2011 antlerless deer season, which includes the youth/Class Q deer seasons, was 11 percent above 2010 and 16 percent below the five-year average of 45,656. “It is important to note that the antlerless harvest is the key component to any deer management strategy, as it controls the future deer population,” said Jezioro. The top 10 counties are: Mason (2,125), Preston (1,958), Jackson (1,776), Wood (1,513), Lewis (1,501), Braxton (1,371), Upshur (1,321), Harrison (1,317), Monongalia (1,253) and Ritchie (1,176).

Muzzleloader Deer Season

The 2011 muzzleloader harvest of 7,290 was 13 percent more than the 2010 harvest of 6,476, six percent below the five-year average of 7,772. The top ten counties are: Jackson (358), Braxton (345), Mason (320), Lewis (293), Preston (288), Wood (246), Randolph (238), Monongalia (232), Upshur (227) and Harrison (223).

Archery Deer Season

The bow hunters take of 26,136 deer was 19 percent above the 2010 harvest of 21,962, three percent below the five-year average harvest of 26,919. The top ten counties are: Preston (1,207), Kanawha (878), Nicholas (874), Raleigh (807), Fayette (802), Monongalia (782), Wyoming (771), Mason (750), Upshur (733), and Greenbrier (732).

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