West Virginia hunters set record for bear hunting this season
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Yet another state has posted record numbers for its 2020 hunting season.
According to officials in West Virginia, hunters harvested a record number of black bears during the most recent season. This news comes as several other states have posted record-breaking hunting numbers from last year.
2020's total breaks the previous record, which was set in 2015 with 3,201 bears harvested. (iStock)
The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources reported that hunters harvested 3,541 black bears during the 2020 archery and firearms season. This total breaks the previous record, which was set in 2015 with 3,201 bears harvested.
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Colin Carpenter, bear project leader for the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, explained, "We saw increased harvest numbers during the September/October and bow/crossbow seasons and then numbers decreased slightly during the buck-gun and December seasons."
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Fox News previously reported that the New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game announced on its website that 1,183 bears were harvested in the 2020 season. This number marks a 33% increase from the previous year’s harvest and it is also 42% higher than the five-year average.
Vermont has also reported a record bear season in 2020, with hunters taking 914 bears as the sport’s popularity surges amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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Hunters in the Green Mountain State harvested the record number last year, surpassing the previous record of 750 bears in 2019. Forrest Hammond, a bear biologist with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, cited cabin fever as a contributing factor.
Missouri’s Department of Conservation reported that nearly 300,000 deer were harvested in the most recent hunting season. This number is higher than last year’s harvest by about 11,000.
Fox News' Janine Puhak contributed to this report.
