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CHARLESTON -- Randolph County ranked third in the state for the 2021 buck harvest during the two-week firearm season from Nov. 22-Dec. 5.
Preliminary data indicates West Virginia hunters harvested 42,674 antlered deer during the season, a 10 percent increase over the 2020 harvest of 38,785 bucks.
The top 10 counties for the 2021 buck harvest are Greenbrier (1,603), Hampshire (1,483), Randolph (1,356), Jackson (1,353), Hardy (1,264), Preston (1,261), Braxton (1,243), Monroe (1,225), Kanawha (1,222) and Roane (1,205).
Randolph's total of 1,356 was down from 1,429 in 2020.
Hunters in Upshur County harvested 1,058 bucks during the season, slightly up from 1,055 in 2020.
Pocahontas County had a total of 1,026 bucks harvested, down from 1,082 in 2020.
The total for Barbour County was 744 this season, down from 846 in 2020.
Tucker County showed 618 this season, down from 633 in 2020.
Paul Johansen, chief of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Section, said only the north central portion of the state had a decline, while all other areas of the state registered increases.
"The harvest during the 2021 traditional buck firearm season was expected to be similar to that of 2020," Johansen said. "Below average oak mast indices may have allowed hunters to better pattern deer movement."
The southeastern and southwestern areas of the state had the largest increases, at 31 percent and 20 percent.
Several days of deer hunting opportunities remain for 2021, including the remainder of the archery and crossbow season, which runs through Dec. 31. The traditional Class N/NN antlerless deer season in selected counties or portions of counties on both public and private land will run from Dec. 9-12.
Muzzleloader deer season will open Dec. 13-19. The Youth, Class Q/QQ and Class XS deer season for antlerless deer will be open from Dec. 26-27 in any county with a firearms deer season. This will be followed by the reopening of Class N/NN antlerless deer season from Dec. 28-31 in specified counties or portions of counties.
The 2021-2022 Hunting and Trapping Regulations Summary can be found online at WVdnr.gov and includes county and area listings.