West Virginia Deer Harvest Up 20 Percent Over 2010

By: Chris Lawrence

The tally of whitetail deer killed during the various 2011 hunting seasons jumped 20% over the numbers from 2010.

The DNR this week released the tally after collecting all check tags from game checking stations across the state.  Hunters bagged a total of 132,323 deer.   As previously reported, the buck harvest was up substantially from 2010 with 60,516 bucks killed.   The antlerless harvest for 2011 was 38,381 deer, the bow kill for 2011 stood at 26,136, and muzzleloader hunters killed 7,290 deer for the year.

The top counties for deer hunting success didn't change much.  Preston County remained at the top with a total of 5,712 deer killed for the year.  Mason County was second where hunters killed 5,181. Third was Jackson County with 4,782 deer taken.  Fourth and fifth respectively was Wood County with 4,173 and Upshur at 3,883 deer killed.  Rounding out the top ten counties for overall deer harvest were Lewis, Monongalia, Randolph, Braxton, and Roane Counties.

Although the antlerless, muzzleloader, and archery seasons all were up from 2010, they were down in numbers over the five-year average.