| Division of Natural Resources officials announced a near record number of black bears were killed last year, including a few in Calhoun.
Other wild game kill was down.
There were below-average numbers for fall turkey season and a large dip in the number of deer killed.
The DNR says bear population in the state is growing.
The DNR believes there are well over 5,000 bears in the state, said Curtis Taylor, chief of wildlife.
DNR reported that 1,613 bears were hunted and killed in 2005.
The record was 1,713 bears in 2003. Only 1,233 bears were killed by in 2004.
The black bear, which is also the state animal, is the only species of bear living in the state. More than 30 years ago most of the black bear were concentrated in Randolph County.
Now, bear kills are being recorded in every district.
15-year-old Roman Rader of Annamoriah, Calhoun
County, killed his first bear at Annamoriah, October 2005
Arnoldsburg, Calhoun County, resident 17-year-old Lewis Smith killed
his 200 lb. black bear in the Kanawha County woods on October 31, 2005
The 1,110 turkey killed by hunters during the fall season was at its lowest number since 1967.
Twenty-one of West Virginia's 55 counties had a fall turkey season in 2005.
The DNR said there have not been good conditions for the young turkeys who are hatched in the spring.
The number of deer killed by hunters was down about 25 percent last year.
Preliminary figures have put the total number of kills at 134,557 deer.
The DNR says there are about a million deer living in West Virginia.
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