2012 Wild Boar Firearms Season Opens Oct. 27

            SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Wild boar firearms season in West Virginia will open October 27 and continue through November 3, 2012. The season is open to West Virginia residents only.  To hunt wild boar, hunters must possess one of the following licenses: Class X, XJ, XS, 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 but hunters can kill only one boar per year. Each animal that is harvested must be checked at an official big game checking station in the county of kill within 24 hours. Concurrent hunting of deer and bear, where legal, is permitted.

            Because of the declining boar population, boar hunting is no longer allowed in December. The number of boar harvested has decreased since the record high in 1995 of 158.  The December season was the most productive, when hunters hoped for snow to increase visibility and to make tracking easier

            “Due to declining boar numbers, hunters are now restricted to the October season,” said Kem Shaw, assistant district biologist for District 5 of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.  “Hunting conditions will be challenging due to limited visibility because the leaves will still be on the trees.  Falling leaves will quickly cover any sign.  Boar should be scattered throughout the four-county hunting area due to good mast production this fall.  Preseason scouting is recommended.”