A Closer look at the Final Harvest Totals for the 2010 Deer Season
W.Va.’s other deer seasons suffered, too
January 15, 2011 by John McCoy
West Virginia wildlife officials announced the final harvest totals for all the state’s 2010 deer seasons, and I examine those numbers in this week’s column:
Well, at least the results were consistent. When West Virginia wildlife officials announced the 2010 all-seasons deer harvest in a Friday release, the bottom line almost perfectly matched the buck-season bottom line: A 32 percent decline.
The buck kill, announced last month, declined 31 percent. This latest announcement hits antlerless-deer hunters, bowhunters and muzzleloader hunters with similar force. The antlerless kill dropped 37 percent. The bow kill dropped 26 percent. The muzzleloader kill dropped 35 percent. To continue this story, click here...
I was reading through this article and thought that it was a great article to share with anyone who is from West Virginia or hunts in or around West Virginia. This would also help to explain the dismal hunting season many of us had around here. Hopefully, this just allows for the bucks to grow larger.
Hunting was bad here in VA this year too. I haven't really heard any theories , but I think it has something to do with the amount of food that was available to them this year. All of the oak trees in my area were loaded with acorns this year - more than I can ever remember seeing in my lifetime. So I'm thinking the deer just didn't have to move around as much this hunting season. Who knows?
ReplyDeleteYea, a few people I know had decent season around here, but I didn't. I believe you are right about the fact that they just didn't have to move that much this fall with all the acorns. They reference "winterkill" in the article, and I'm not sure I think that was a major cause either, but what do I really know..
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