Published: October 17, 2009 09:06 pm      

New hunt pressure, success minimal

Hunting pressure and success during the new September bow and muzzleloader seasons in West Virginia appears to have been light, according to Division of Natural Resources Wildlife Biologist Gary Foster, though the real numbers won’t be known until December.

“We aren’t going to make a special trip to pick up the tags,” Foster said, the reason being it would add to the state’s costs. “We’ll pick them up in December when we get all the tags from our buck season.”

Foster said conversations with other wildlife professionals and law enforcement officers in the 36 counties where the early seasons took place paint a picture of low participation.

Only antlerless deer were legal during the six days of bow hunting and the six days of black powder hunting.

At the Stoney Creek Country Store in Largent in Morgan County, only one bow kill and four muzzleloader kills had been registered.

Foster said he thinks it takes time for any new hunt to catch on.

“Some hunters may not have even been aware of it,” Foster said. “Others may not have been able to get time to go.”

I agree with Foster. I know it took a few years for the early three-day muzzleloader season in Maryland to become well used. Now, many hunters consider it the highlight of the year.

“It’s a little different when our hunters have been used to a muzzleloader season that takes place in December and they are trying to keep from freezing and now they have a season that the air temperature can get pretty hot,” Foster said.

Foster said biologists will analyze the numbers once the tags are gathered.

“We’ll see where the numbers point and make a determination whether or not to recommend that the hunts take place again next year,” he said. “We will give that recommendation to the natural resources commissioners in January.”

Contact Outdoor Editor Michael A. Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com.