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West Virginia's 2016 archery and crossbow seasons for white-tailed deer, black bear and wild boar open Saturday, September 24, 2016. The archery and crossbow deer and boar seasons run through December 31, 2016. The bear archery and crossbow season is a split season (September 24 - November 19 and December 05 -December 31) with the exception of Logan, McDowell, Mingo and Wyoming counties, in which the season will be open from September 24 - December 31, 2016.
In addition to a base license (which means a Class EE Bear Hunting License for nonresidents), bear hunters must buy a Bear Damage Stamp (Class DS). Two bear may be taken per year, provided at least one bear is taken in Boone, Fayette, Kanawha, Logan, McDowell, Mingo, Nicholas, Raleigh or Wyoming counties. Other than the Class DS stamp, no additional stamps are needed to harvest bears during the archery and crossbow season except for nonresidents hunting on the National Forest (Class I). The daily bag limit for bear remains one bear per day.
Hunters must purchase stamps if they wish to harvest additional deer during the archery season. One or two additional archery deer, depending on the county, may be taken with Class RB (Resident) or Class RRB (Nonresident) stamps (one per stamp). Hunters should also note in the regulations that in 14 counties or portions thereof, they must take an antlerless archery deer before harvesting a second antlered deer. Additional archery stamps must be purchased before the start of the deer archery season.
Individuals may take up to two deer in one day during the archery or crossbow season. The first deer does not have to be electronically checked before harvesting the second deer in the same day. However, only one antlered deer may be taken in the same day during any season. Special regulations exist for the four archery-only counties (Logan, McDowell, Mingo and Wyoming). In these counties, only two archery deer may be taken, one of which must be antlerless. In these counties, crossbows can only be used by holders of Class Y/YY permits.
The wild boar archery and crossbow seasons are open in Boone, Logan, Raleigh and Wyoming counties, and the season bag limit is one boar.
In all counties, underage residents and legal resident landowners hunting on their own property and holders of Class DT (Life-threatening Conditions) licenses may use Class RB/RRB stamp privileges without stamp purchase.
For complete information, hunters should consult the 2016-2017 West Virginia Hunting and Trapping Regulations Summary available at any WVDNR office, license agents or by visiting the WVDNR website at www.wvdnr.gov.
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