A few observances as time passes and we West Virginians hurtle toward the start of another firearm season for bucks:
A few observances as time passes and we West Virginians hurtle toward the start of another firearm season for bucks:
This would be a good week to be a bowhunter. The number of road-killed deer has increased dramatically during the past few days. That's a sign that bucks are chasing does, but the does aren't receptive just yet.
According to Jim Crum, deer project leader for the state Division of Natural Resources, the peak of breeding usually occurs between Nov. 14 and Nov. 17, give or take a day or two. That's when does are most receptive and are paired up with bucks. Until that time, the boys are a-chasin' and the girls are playing hard to get. Bucks, suffused with hormones and bent on mating, are most vulnerable to hunters.
Sharpen your broadheads and find a good spot for your tree stand. The fun is about to begin.
Technology can be a wonderful thing. We hunters used to have to scramble to make sure we had all the proper stamps and tags on our hunting licenses. If we left the yearly ritual until the week before the buck season began, we all too often discovered that our license agent had run out of at least one of the stamps we needed. We then had to traipse from agent to agent in search of the missing piece of paper.
Contrast that to today, when most brokers can hand us a computer-generated license with all the desired stamps and tags. Their supplies never run out, and we hunters aren't forced to do the "license-agent shuffle."
If we can't get to an agent, we can sit down at our home computers, call up www.wvhunt.com, whip out a credit card and purchase all the licenses and stamps we need. It's an invaluable service, one that sure comes in handy the Sunday night before opening day when you suddenly realize you haven't yet bought your license.
Deer seasons are a lot safer than they used to be. Back before sportsmen were required to take hunter-education classes and wear fluorescent orange clothing, it wasn't at all unusual for five to 15 hunting-related fatalities to occur during the 12-day buck season. Most of the deaths occurred when one hunter mistook another for a deer and shot in that direction.
Mercifully, that doesn't happen much anymore. A few fatal shooting incidents still occur, but they're usually from accidental discharges or self-inflicted. Precious few deaths have the infamous "mistaken for game" label attached to them anymore.
It's far more likely nowadays for a hunter to die in a four-wheeler accident, from a tree-stand fall, or from a heart attack suffered during a strenuous climb. Those deaths are no less tragic, but at least they don't perpetuate the image of slob hunters blazing away at everything that moves.
Buck season is a time of homecoming for many Mountain State residents who have since moved away. A large percentage of those who purchase non-resident hunting licenses are expatriate West Virginians who come home to hunt and spend the Thanksgiving holiday with their folks.
For those who have experienced it, the memories are nothing short of magical - the warmth of a familiar bed on a frosty morning, the smells of coffee and frying bacon, the bustle of orange-clad folks preparing for a day in the woods, and the heady anticipation that a big-antlered buck might come wandering by.
Such are the joys of deer hunting. May the coming weeks allow you to experience them, too.
A few observances as time passes and we West Virginians hurtle toward the start of another firearm season for bucks:
This would be a good week to be a bowhunter. The number of road-killed deer has increased dramatically during the past few days. That's a sign that bucks are chasing does, but the does aren't receptive just yet.
According to Jim Crum, deer project leader for the state Division of Natural Resources, the peak of breeding usually occurs between Nov. 14 and Nov. 17, give or take a day or two. That's when does are most receptive and are paired up with bucks. Until that time, the boys are a-chasin' and the girls are playing hard to get. Bucks, suffused with hormones and bent on mating, are most vulnerable to hunters.
Sharpen your broadheads and find a good spot for your tree stand. The fun is about to begin.
Technology can be a wonderful thing. We hunters used to have to scramble to make sure we had all the proper stamps and tags on our hunting licenses. If we left the yearly ritual until the week before the buck season began, we all too often discovered that our license agent had run out of at least one of the stamps we needed. We then had to traipse from agent to agent in search of the missing piece of paper.
Contrast that to today, when most brokers can hand us a computer-generated license with all the desired stamps and tags. Their supplies never run out, and we hunters aren't forced to do the "license-agent shuffle."
If we can't get to an agent, we can sit down at our home computers, call up www.wvhunt.com, whip out a credit card and purchase all the licenses and stamps we need. It's an invaluable service, one that sure comes in handy the Sunday night before opening day when you suddenly realize you haven't yet bought your license.
Deer seasons are a lot safer than they used to be. Back before sportsmen were required to take hunter-education classes and wear fluorescent orange clothing, it wasn't at all unusual for five to 15 hunting-related fatalities to occur during the 12-day buck season. Most of the deaths occurred when one hunter mistook another for a deer and shot in that direction.
Mercifully, that doesn't happen much anymore. A few fatal shooting incidents still occur, but they're usually from accidental discharges or self-inflicted. Precious few deaths have the infamous "mistaken for game" label attached to them anymore.
It's far more likely nowadays for a hunter to die in a four-wheeler accident, from a tree-stand fall, or from a heart attack suffered during a strenuous climb. Those deaths are no less tragic, but at least they don't perpetuate the image of slob hunters blazing away at everything that moves.
Buck season is a time of homecoming for many Mountain State residents who have since moved away. A large percentage of those who purchase non-resident hunting licenses are expatriate West Virginians who come home to hunt and spend the Thanksgiving holiday with their folks.
For those who have experienced it, the memories are nothing short of magical - the warmth of a familiar bed on a frosty morning, the smells of coffee and frying bacon, the bustle of orange-clad folks preparing for a day in the woods, and the heady anticipation that a big-antlered buck might come wandering by.
Such are the joys of deer hunting. May the coming weeks allow you to experience them, too.
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