Hunters headed to the forest this week as the two-week, firearms-only season for bucks began in West Virginia.
The annual hunt, traditionally set around the Thanksgiving holiday and running Monday, Nov. 21, through Sunday, Dec. 4, this year, is a big deal for both hunters and the state’s economy.
“Based on 2020 data, hunting generates $456 million annually in retail sales in West Virginia,” Paul Johansen, chief of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Section, said prior to last year’s firearms-only season. “When you add the multiplier effect from the economic activity, the total economic impact is $549 million.”
State officials say hunting is an especially big deal for the state’s small businesses.
It’s estimated that close to $300 million is generated within the two-week window of the buck season, and for the small shops in out-of-the-way locations, deer season is the difference between a downturn in profits and a healthy one.
Wayne County father and son Robert and Canaan Foster each snagged a buck on a family farm in Ritchie County.
Canaan, 13, got an 8-point while his father snagged a 9-point.
White-tailed deer are the most sought-after, big-game species in West Virginia, and more than 200,000 hunters take to the woods to hunt white-tails every year. White-tailed deer are found in every county and in every habitat in the Mountain State.
Weather is always an unpredictable factor, although officials say the weather doesn’t have as much effect on deer behavior as it does on hunter behavior — the bulk of the buck harvest happens in the first few days of the season, so bad weather can have a direct effect on the overall number of hunters.
In 2021, hunters killed 105,278 deer, a 1.5% drop from the 106,861 deer killed in 2020, according to the Division of Natural Resources.
The most deer were killed in Preston, Jackson, Randolph and Upshur counties last year.
The DNR said hunters killed more than 42,000 bucks during the traditional buck firearm season, 31,000 were killed by bows and crossbows, nearly 28,000 antlerless deer were killed during all firearm seasons, and nearly 3,600 deer were killed by muzzleloader hunters.
For more information, rules and regulations, visit wvdnr.gov.
BREAKOUT
Submit buck season brags to WCN
Those wishing to show off their big kills this hunting season in Wayne County can submit photos to Nikki Merritt using email address ndotson@hdmediallc.com
Submissions should include name and age of hunter, location of kill and any other information pertinent to the photo.
