2018 West Virginia deer firearms season fact sheet

News Release
November 18, 2018

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The 2018 West Virginia buck firearms season will start Monday, Nov. 19 and run through Dec. 1. Here are a few facts about the season:

Buck firearm season is open in all counties except Logan, Mingo, McDowell and Wyoming.
Sunday hunting will be legal on public lands throughout West Virginia, and on private land with written permission of the landowner. The only Sunday that falls within the two-week buck firearms season is Nov. 25.
All deer harvested by hunters in Berkeley and Mineral counties on Nov. 19 and 20 are required to be brought to a designated Biological Game Examination Station. For station locations, consult page 12 of the 2018-2019 Hunting and Trapping Regulations Summary.
Approximately 250,000 deer hunters will be in West Virginia’s woods this season.
Hunters should review the 2018-2019 Hunting and Trapping Regulations Summary for detailed instructions concerning bag limits and season dates. The regulations are available at license agents, DNR district offices and online at www.wvdnr.gov.
All hunters must use their permanent DNR ID number to check game. The ID number can be found on annual hunting licenses. Hunters who have registered with the electronic licensing system in the past must use the number they were previously provided. They also can be obtained by calling 304-558-2758 or logging on to wvhunt.com and providing the requested information. Game may be checked by telephone at 1-844-WVCHECK, online at wvhunt.com or at any hunting license agent. All field tagging, transporting and possession requirements still apply.
Hunters may substitute a bow or a crossbow during the buck firearms season.
The bag limit during the two-week buck firearms 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, crossbow and firearms seasons combined.
A hunter may harvest two deer per day, but only one antlered deer may be harvested per day. The first deer does not have to be electronically registered before harvesting the second deer in the same day. However, all deer legally harvested must be electronically registered and legally tagged before hunting during a subsequent day.
The last day to purchase an additional buck deer gun tag (Class RG/RRG Stamp) is Sunday, Nov. 18. Class RG and Class RRG additional buck stamps can only be used to take an additional antlered deer during buck firearms season. Unused Class RG and Class RRG stamps may not be used in antlerless or muzzleloader seasons.
Fifty-one counties are open to concurrent antlerless deer season hunting during the traditional buck firearms season. Class N (resident) or Class NN (non-resident) stamps to hunt during the antlerless deer season can be purchased at any time. Antlerless deer firearms season opens Nov. 19 on private land and specified public lands. Hunters should consult the 2018-2019 Hunting and Trapping Regulations Summary for specific antlerless deer season regulations in each county and wildlife management area.
A bear firearms season without dogs will run concurrent with the buck firearms season in 51 of 55 counties, excluding Logan, Mingo, McDowell and Wyoming. Consult the 2018-2019 Hunting and Trapping Regulations Summary for specific information.
According to Southwick Associates, hunting contributes $500 million each year to the state’s economy. Deer hunters spend an estimated $230 million in West Virginia, much of it in the rural areas of the state that depend upon the deer seasons for a large portion of their annual income. Hunting is estimated to be responsible for 5,400 jobs and $35 million in sales taxes on goods and services spent in West Virginia.
In 2017, the traditional bucks-only firearm season harvest of antlered bucks was 44,127, a decrease of 4 percent from the 2016 harvest. This is 14 percent less than the 5-year average bucks-only firearm season harvest of 51,448 and ranks 35th among all past years.
WVDNR predicts the buck harvest will be higher than it was in 2017. White oak mast will have the deer spread across the landscape, but the lack of other oak species will make it easier for hunters this year than last season. Field reports are showing a very healthy deer population and many good bucks available.
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 online to 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 money to the Hunters Helping the Hungry program, which distributes deer meat through the Mountaineer Food Bank and the Facing Hunger Food Bank, should call 304-924-6211 or visit the DNR website at www.wvdnr.gov to find a participating meat processor.