Associated Press Published

West Virginia Deer Kill Up Slightly in 2018

Deer

State wildlife officials say the number of white-tailed deer killed in West Virginia during the recently completed hunting seasons rose slightly compared to a year ago.

The Division of Natural Resources says in a news release that hunters killed 108,856 deer last year. That’s compared to 108,160 deer in 2017 and an 11 percent drop from the five-year average.

The most deer were killed in Preston, Randolph, Jackson and Upshur counties.

The DNR says more than 44,000 bucks were killed during the traditional buck firearm season, nearly 33,000 antlerless deer were killed during all firearm seasons, 27,000 deer were killed by bows and crossbows, and more than 4,200 were killed by muzzleloader hunters. In addition, 659 deer were taken with primitive bow and muzzleloader weapons during the Mountaineer Heritage season.