West Virginia Wildlife from Eyewitness News

Buck Season

Buck season kicks off Monday.

November 19, 2008
Reporter: Patrick McMurtry
Videographer: Brad Rice

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This is the time nearly half a million of us have been waiting for...buck season kicks in Monday and it should be a good one for hunters.

Gary Sharp/DNR Biologist says:
"This year's deer season for WV fire arms hunting should be excellent. We had lower anlterless harvests the last couple of years and there should be more deer out there and we expect over 300,000 hunters to take to the woods opening day."

That's a lot of folks taking part in something that is a lot more than just taking a gun into the woods. This is a West Virginia tradition passed along from generation to generation since before Daniel Boone hunted these parts.

You don't have to be a hard core explorer to find deer anymore, either. Gary says a lot of people will be bringing home bucks this year.

Gary Sharp/DNR Biologist says:
"We ought to harvest in the neighborhood of 70,000 bucks during the two week buck season.

You're allowed an antlered deer on your base license and hunters that wish to kill an additional antlered buck during the two week season need to by an RG or RRG stamp and they have to be purchased prior to the season opening."

All those hunting licenses and additional stamps, combined with the amount of money folks spend on hotels, ammunition and hunting gear translates into more than two hundred million dollars to the state's economy.

If you go out over the next couple of weeks and don't get your buck, don't worry, you'll still have chances to put some venision on your family's table.

Gary Sharp/DNR Biologist says:
"This year, on private land, anterless season will run concurrent with buck season. Then the week after buck season, the traditional antlerless week and the 4 days around Christmas it comes back."

I'll be out there every day looking for that trophy buck...I hope to see you checking one in, too. For West Virginia Wildlife, I'm Patrick McMurtry, Eyewitness News.

LEARN MORE

W. Va. DNR

MORE WILDLIFE NEWS

WCHS-TV8 Online brings you the current Fishing and Stream Conditions Report updated every week.

Hunting Report updated every week in season.

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