Photos used by permission of Feathers, Scale & Whitetails
From the images on the Feathers, Scales & Whitetails Facebook page, West Virginia’s, and more specifically, Calhoun County’s Archery season kicked off pretty well. The site managers posted photos of Cameron Sampson and Roman Wilson’s deer harvest, saying of Cameron, that he was “On the board with an absolute tank of a Calhoun county WV buck.”
Roman Wilson (below) also had an awesome first week of archery season taking his biggest archery buck on a solo hunt.
According to the WV DNR’s website West Virginia’s archery season opens each year on the last Saturday in September. This early season opening date allows archers opportunities to pattern wildlife as they use both soft and hard mast food sources. Wildlife movement can be very predictable at this time of year. Hunters should consult the Mast and Hunter Outlook Survey published annually by the Division of Natural Resources.
With the buck firearms season not opening until the Monday before Thanksgiving, archers hunting white-tailed deer have a chance to hunt the peek movement periods of late October’s pre-rut and the November rut. Hunters looking for an opportunity to chase trophy-class bucks may want to consider the following wildlife management areas that require all antlered bucks to have an outside antler spread of at least 14 inches. These areas include McClintic, Beech Fork Lake, Bluestone Lake, Burnsville Lake, Little Kanawha River and Coopers Rock and Calvin Price State Forest. Additional opportunities may be found at the Big South, Tomblin and Laurel Lake wildlife management areas located in the southern bow hunting-only counties.
With hunting season a time of making some of the best memories in life, make sure lives are protected by honoring hunting regulations and making sure you, your family and friends are geared for the hunt.
In Season: Wild Boar (Archery & Crossbow)- Sept. 30-Dec. 31, Deer (Archery & Crossbow)- Sept. 30-Dec. 31, Deer (Youth/Class Q/Class XS)- Oct. 21-Oct. 22, Bear (Gun-select counties)- Oct. 7-Oct. 13, Bear (Archery & Crossbow)-Sept. 30-Dec. 31, Bear (Youth/Class Q/Class XS)- Oct. 21-Oct. 22, Turkey (Fall) – Oct. 14-Oct. 22, Squirrel (Gray, Black, Albino, and Fox)– Sept. 9-Feb. 29, Ruffed Grouse- Oct. 14-Feb. 29, Raccoon (Hunting)- Oct. 14-Feb. 29, Crow – Oct. 1-Nov. 18, Coyote (Hunting: Year-round), Skunk, Opossum, Woodchuck, Weasel, English Sparrow, European Starling, and Pigeon (Hunting: Year-round).
