Wild Boar Firearms Season Opens in West Virginia Oct. 22
OutdoorHub 10.17.11
Point Pleasant, W.Va. – The wild boar firearms season is scheduled to open on Oct. 22, and run through Oct. 29, according to Kem Shaw, Assistant District 5 Wildlife Biologist for the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.
The wild boar season is open to West Virginia residents only. To hunt wild boar, hunters must possess one of the following licenses: Class X, XJ, AB-L, A-L or Class A+BG+CS or be exempt from purchasing a license. A special boar permit is no longer required. Hunting is restricted to Boone, Logan, Raleigh and Wyoming counties. Boar of either sex may be taken, and the season limit is one per year. Each animal that is harvested must be checked at an official game checking station in the county of kill within 24 hours. Concurrent hunting of deer and bear, where legal, is permitted.
During the 2010 season, hunters killed 16 wild boar. The number of boar harvested has decreased since the record high of 158 in 1995. During that period, the December season was the most productive and hunters looked for snow cover to increase visibility and make tracking easier. Due to declining boar numbers, hunters are now restricted to the October season where hunting conditions are more challenging, leaves are still on trees limiting visibility, and falling leaves quickly cover any sign.
This fall, wild boar should be scattered throughout the four-county hunting area due to good scarlet and red oak mast in this region of the state. Preseason scouting is recommended.
