West Virginia Hunters Harvest 1,828 Black Bears in 2009

West Virginia hunters harvested 1,828 black bears during the combined 2009 archery and firearms seasons, according to Chris Ryan, Supervisor of Game Management Services for the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. The preliminary harvest data for the combined seasons in 2009 is the second highest harvest on record behind only 2008.
“Multiple factors contributed to this most recent bear harvest,” said Ryan. “West Virginia has a tremendous bear population that allows for a variety of different hunting opportunities. The poor statewide mast conditions allowed archery hunters to better pattern bear movements as the bruins were looking for concentrated food sources. However, poor mast conditions and a larger than normal December snowfall pushed bears into their winter dens, thereby making them unavailable to gun hunters.”
Hunters took a record 987 bears during the 2009 archery season. This was the first time in history that the archery harvest topped 800, let alone reaching the 900 mark. Biologists predicted that this would be a record bow harvest because of the statewide mast conditions and the remarkable bear population. The top five counties were Randolph (118), Webster (92), Nicholas (77), Greenbrier (77), and Preston (73).
Firearms hunters harvested 841 bears during the 2009 combined gun seasons. West Virginia DNR biologists have demonstrated a direct relationship between mast conditions and bear gun harvests. The poor mast conditions coupled with the larger than normal snowfall and reduced hunting opportunities resulted in a predictable lower gun harvest in 2009. Top five counties were Randolph (112), Fayette (86), Pocahontas (74), Pendleton (70), and Raleigh (58).

**DNR**

[If your e-mail reader does not show the following summary table of the 2009 West Virginia Black Bear Harvest, you can see it in the “News” section on the WVDNR Web site at www.wvdnr.gov. If it is not there when you check, try again later.]

WEST VIRGINIA BLACK BEAR HARVEST, 2009
County Bow Gun TOTAL
Barbour 17 8 25
Brooke 0 C 0
Hancock 0 C 0
Harrison 1 0 1
Marion 0 0 0
Marshall 0 C 0
Monongalia 4 3 7
Ohio 0 C 0
Preston 73 28 101
Taylor 1 1 2
Tucker 41 47 88
Wetzel 1 C 1
District I Subtotal 138 87 225
Berkeley 3 1 4
Grant 29 29 58
Hampshire 13 9 22
Hardy 40 45 85
Jefferson 3 0 3
Mineral 9 4 13
Morgan 4 2 6
Pendleton 32 70 102
Dist. II Subtotal 133 160 293
Braxton 22 5 27
Clay 22 5 27
Lewis 2 0 2
Nicholas 77 38 115
Pocahontas 22 74 96
Randolph 118 112 230
Upshur 3 3 6
Webster 92 53 145
Dist. III Subtotal 358 290 648
Fayette 49 86 135
Greenbrier 77 51 128
McDowell 19 3 22
Mercer 28 1 29
Monroe 32 6 38
Raleigh 30 58 88
Summers 10 1 11
Wyoming 38 1 39
Dist. IV Subtotal 283 207 490
Boone 12 51 63
Cabell 0 0 0
Kanawha 24 45 69
Lincoln 0 0 0
Logan 20 0 20
Mason 0 0 0
Mingo 6 0 6
Putnam 0 0 0
Wayne 0 1 1
Dist. V Subtotal 62 97 159
Calhoun 0 0 0
Doddridge 0 C 0
Gilmer 3 0 3
Jackson 1 C 1
Pleasants 1 C 1
Ritchie 2 C 2
Roane 2 0 2
Tyler 0 C 0
Wirt 3 C 3
Wood 1 C 1
Dist. VI Subtotal 13 0 13
STATE TOTAL 987 841 1,828