West Virginia black bears

[stick flipper]

I am going to be hunting deer and black bears in WV this fall and I am wondering if any of you guys on here have hunted bear in WV. I would like to here about your experience(s), any advise you have, or any info you could give me.

Thank you in advance,

Chris

[sswv]

what counties will you be hunting in??

[stick flipper]

I am thinking about randolph, webster, green brier, pocahontas, maybe one of those co.

[sswv]

those are good choices

[chris K.]

does WV allow non-resident bear hunting, if they do you are going to need a hunting partner. Just jokin', but you might want to check into the non-resident part though.

[sswv]

YES, WV does offer non-resident Bear hunting. you can find the info you need at:   www.wvhunt.com
or:    www.wvdnr.gov

[chris K.]

I do not know why I never thought about WV, I was thinking about going to Montana for my bear hunt, I think that this still may be a idea, there is a whole lot of public land there, I would think that the odds of tagging a bear there unless you really knew someone there, you might be very limited on where you would be able to hunt them much less see one. But then again I am not lucky enough to know anyone who lives there, and woohoo, go Elliot Saddler!

[sswv]

hey chris k.   glad to see you're a NASCAR fan. do a search on public hunting land in WV. also' give the DNR office in the area you're planning on hunting a call. these guys can be a big help when it comes to pointing you towards a Bear.

[chris K.]

I just checked the web page for WV, and you just cannot use a guide service to hunt bears in WV. I called awhile back to the DNR there and I must have caught the gal that anwsered the phone on a bad day, should told me that there was no non-resident bear tags for sale, that it was a resident hunting only game. I guess she was all out of "southern charm"!

[sswv]

here's the number to the WVDNR's main office:
law enforcement (304) 558-2784
wildlife management  (304) 558-2771

you cannot use a "Guide Service" to hunt Bear in WV but non-residents CAN hunt Bear

[Killdeer]

I hunt VA, but close to Pocahontas Co, WV. There are a lot of bears there! The terrain can be brutal, but the game is there. They regularly run bears with dogs in that section of the country, I knew one guy who ran them a lot up on Cheat Mountain. Some of the bears that he talked about were huge. The biggest I have seen was about 200 to 250 pounds, though.

Killdeer

[sswv]

hey Killdeer!   we could just invite him to ATAR. everyone knows there are Bear at that Lake. he could use a 3-D target for bait.  LOL

[chris K.]

I might call them again, do they send maps and stuff also?

[sswv]

not sure about the DNR sending out maps...but it's worth a try

[chris K.]

I know that NC does, I think that they have the best DNR that I have ever talked to and resources of info that they are willing to send a non-resident.

[sswv]

I know the coastal area of NC has some of the biggest Black Bear anywhere.

GOOD LUCK where ever you choose to hunt.
give me a shout if you do decide on WV.

[Killdeer]

Be sure to take a lot of shrimp shells with you when you go. Scatter them around your tent to keep the bears out of camp. That's what the West Virginia boys do!    

Killdeer

[sswv]

works everytime     :D

[ALW]

The DNR in WV doesn't seem to go out of their way to get good mapping of public hunting areas.  Mostly pamphlets with the wildlife management areas on them.  You can get a few with topo's but they are usually just photo copied sections of maps.  The southeren part of the state seems to be the hot spot for bear hunting.  I think the DNR did some studies and found out that the bears in the southern part of the state had more cubs on average than in the northern mountains.

    Down south there are some public hunting areas and a whole lot of coal and timber company properties that pretty much everybody hunts.  And some good size bears are taken there.  A guy killed one just north of Charleston, WV a few years ago while bowhunting for deer that went 450+.  In the northern mountains there's a lot of National Forest that can be hunted.  I think most bowhunters that kill bears seem to take them while hunting deer.

[Pete Patterson]

USA Topo 6.0 has WV Wildlife Management Areas marked.