Trophy Deer On West Virginia’s Public Lands
I think this is a good idea because it will give deer in these area’s a chance to get to the size and maturity that they deserve. I don’t think that Virginia would have done this if they didn’t feel there was potential for those area’s.
By: Rick Kratzke
Four wildlife management areas and one state forest have been set aside as trophy areas for deer. Will they produce the desired results?
Photo By: Ron Sinfelt
Over the past decade, bowhunters here in the Mountain State who concentrate their efforts on trophy bucks have focused on the four southern counties of Boone, Mingo, McDowell and Wyoming. After all, these four counties have been closed to gun hunting for a number of years now. And numerous trophy bucks have come from this area over the past 20 seasons.
In addition, there have been a respectable number of wallhangers that have been taken from many of the other surrounding counties that border these four areas. Simply put, this region of the Mountain State is pretty tough to beat if you are an avid bowhunter.
If you are a trophy gun hunter, chances are you’ll head for one of the more remote areas in the state, such as places in Randolph, Webster or Pendleton counties. You might even head south to one of those counties in the southern coalfields region where gun hunting is permitted.
PUBLIC LAND OPTIONS
Now there is another option that is open to you. There are four wildlife management areas (WMA) and one state forest where they have implemented a 14-inch or wider antler spread restriction (ear tip to ear tip), and also instituted an annual bag limit of one antlered deer for all seasons combined. These areas were first opened in 2006, so this quality deer management approach is still in its developmental stages. (Continued)
The four WMAs include: Beech Fork (7,531 acres), Bluestone Lake (18,019 acres), Burnsville Lake (12,579 acres) and McClintic (3,655 acres). The state forest is Coopers Rock (12,713 acres). Combined, these five areas take in almost 55,000 acres of public land where the focus is to produce better than average bucks. Let’s face it, if you are an avid whitetail hunter, a rack with a spread of 15 to 18 inches is a pretty decent buck and would qualify as a “trophy” in most parts of the Appalachian Region.