CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Permits to hunt West Virginia's antlerless deer aren't hard to get - unless, that is, a person wants to hunt one of six state-owned wildlife management areas where the number of permits is limited.

Hunters headed for Putnam County's Amherst-Plymouth Wildlife Management Area, Braxton County's Burnsville WMA, Brooke County's Cross Creek WMA, Hancock County's Hillcrest WMA, or Lewis County's Stonecoal or Stonewall Jackson WMAs must apply to the Division of Natural Resources for permits.

"The reason we go with a limited permit system for those areas is because we know that we need have hunters harvest a certain number of female deer, but we can't open the areas up to over-the-counter permit sales without risking an over-harvest," said Paul Johansen, the DNR's assistant wildlife chief.

To properly balance deer numbers on those areas, biologists have varied the number of permits available for each. The breakdown is as follows: Amherst/Plymouth, 100; Burnsville, 50; Cross Creek, 75; Hillcrest, 75; Stonecoal, 50; and Stonewall Jackson, 300.

Johansen expects all of the permits to be issued for each area.

"The areas are pretty widely dispersed across the state, so we'll be drawing from different segments of the population," he said. "Some of the areas, just from an accessibility standpoint, will be popular. Stonewall Jackson and Stonecoal would be good examples of that."

Applications for the permits are available at hunting- and fishing-license agents throughout the state, or can be downloaded from the DNR's Web page, www.wvdnr.gov. DNR officials will conduct a random drawing to determine which applicants receive permits.

Applications must be received by the DNR on Aug. 23 in order to be eligible. The permits may be used from Nov. 26 through Dec. 13 and Dec. 24-27. 

 Reach John McCoy at 348-1231 or johnmc...@wvgazette.com.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Permits to hunt West Virginia's antlerless deer aren't hard to get - unless, that is, a person wants to hunt one of six state-owned wildlife management areas where the number of permits is limited.

Hunters headed for Putnam County's Amherst-Plymouth Wildlife Management Area, Braxton County's Burnsville WMA, Brooke County's Cross Creek WMA, Hancock County's Hillcrest WMA, or Lewis County's Stonecoal or Stonewall Jackson WMAs must apply to the Division of Natural Resources for permits.

"The reason we go with a limited permit system for those areas is because we know that we need have hunters harvest a certain number of female deer, but we can't open the areas up to over-the-counter permit sales without risking an over-harvest," said Paul Johansen, the DNR's assistant wildlife chief.

To properly balance deer numbers on those areas, biologists have varied the number of permits available for each. The breakdown is as follows: Amherst/Plymouth, 100; Burnsville, 50; Cross Creek, 75; Hillcrest, 75; Stonecoal, 50; and Stonewall Jackson, 300.

Johansen expects all of the permits to be issued for each area.

"The areas are pretty widely dispersed across the state, so we'll be drawing from different segments of the population," he said. "Some of the areas, just from an accessibility standpoint, will be popular. Stonewall Jackson and Stonecoal would be good examples of that."

Applications for the permits are available at hunting- and fishing-license agents throughout the state, or can be downloaded from the DNR's Web page, www.wvdnr.gov. DNR officials will conduct a random drawing to determine which applicants receive permits.

Applications must be received by the DNR on Aug. 23 in order to be eligible. The permits may be used from Nov. 26 through Dec. 13 and Dec. 24-27. 

 Reach John McCoy at 348-1231 or johnmc...@wvgazette.com.