Special West Virginia antlerless deer season Oct. 21, Dec. 26-27
FRENCH CREEK, W.Va. — The three-day special antlerless deer season for youth hunters, persons who possess a Class Q/QQ permit and senior citizens with a Class XS license will soon be underway. The first segment of the season is one day, Oct. 21, and the second segment is two days, Dec. 26-27. This season is open on private and public lands in counties that have a firearms deer hunting season.
Youth hunters ages 8-17 may participate in this special antlerless deer season. Hunters ages 8-14 must be accompanied by a licensed adult who may not hunt or possess implements for the taking of wildlife. Hunters ages 15-17 must comply with all licensing requirements.
“The special split antlerless season provides an excellent opportunity for parents and other mentoring adults to pass on the skills, safe habits and traditions of hunting to youth hunters,” said Tyler Evans, wildlife biologist with the DNR. “This season also provides excellent opportunities for our seniors and other eligible hunters to take to the woods at a time when hunting pressure is at a reduced level.”
All hunters participating in this season, as well as accompanying adults, must wear at least 400 square inches of blaze orange.
The daily bag limit for this special antlerless deer season is one antlerless deer per day. A total of three antlerless deer may be harvested during this season. These deer will not count toward the hunter’s annual deer season bag limit, and Class N/NN stamps are not required for this special season.
Each harvested deer must be field tagged and electronically registered within 24 hours of the close of each segment of the split season and before pursuit of any additional deer. Deer may be checked in on the Electronic Licensing System at www.wvhunt.com, by calling 1-844-WVCHECK or by visiting a license agent.
Please, refer to the 2017-2018 West Virginia Hunting and Trapping Regulations Summary for additional details on this special split antlerless deer season. Hunters may also direct their questions to any of the six DNR district offices.
