West Virginia Wildlife from Eyewitness News

Bow Season

Bow season starts this weekend, and your chance for a big buck is excellent!

October 11, 2006
Reporter: Patrick McMurtry
Videographer: Brad Rice

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You can feel the excitement in the air. Bow hunting season is just days away and get ready for some big bucks.

Scott Warner/DNR says:
"The numbers this year are actually up, we're expecting a really good archery season. Reports indicate there are plenty of deer this year, in fact, because of the decrease that we had last year in our buck harvest, we should see a surplus of two and a half year year old bucks, which means larger antlers for deer hunters."

The chance of landing a big buck this bow season will take a lot of hunters out into the woods.

Scott Warner/DNR says:
"It's about two and a half months long over the period, we'll have more than 130 thousand bow hunters alone heading out into the woods because we have some of the best bow hunting in the eastern United States. We're a top ten state when it comes to our total archery harvest and this year we should actually see growth in that."

Warner stops short of saying this will be a record year for deer, but he does say this is the year to practice a little patience, especially if you're looking for a trophy buck.

Scott Warner/DNR says:
"If you're really into looking for that wall hanger, we always encourage you to pass up the little ones and look for a larger buck and this would be the year to do that. We also encourage people to get out and do some scouting because it's going to be harder to find the deer because the abundance of mast is not going to be concentrated in one area. There will be more deer out there but they're going to be spread out."

Remember, you need to buy your additional deer stamps before Friday and be sure and check your county's hunting regs before you go out into the woods.