Virginia 2007-08 Black Bear Harvest
In Virginia, 1517 bears were harvested during the 2007-08 season. Virginia's black bear harvest trend has been increasing at an average annual rate of 7.4% per year over the past decade. The 2007-08 harvest was 7.5% less than last year's harvest of 1633 bears but was very similar to the 2003-04 harvest of 1,511 bears and the second highest bear harvest documented in Virginia.
Bear harvests west and east of the Blue Ridge Mountains were 1,034 (68% of the harvest) and 482 (32 % of the harvest), respectively. Comparatively, in 2006, 75% of the harvest was west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Similar to the last few years, the eight counties surrounding Shenandoah National Park produced 38% (575 bears) of the total bear kill.
The archery harvest of 393 bears (25% of the total harvest) was comparable to the 2006-07 season. Also similar to the 2006-07 season, crossbows accounted for 38% of the entire archery harvest of bears. Over 70% of the archery harvest was west of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The 4-day muzzleloading season accounted for 92 bears (6.1% of the total harvest). This was similar to the 6% of bears harvested during the 2006-07 muzzleloading season.
The 2007-08 regular firearms harvest of 1032 bears was slightly decreased from the harvest of 1118 bears in the 2006-07 season. Dog hunters accounted for 52% of the regular firearms harvest and 35% of the total bear kill.
Similar to the long-term average of 37%, the harvest was comprised of 35% females. Bear hunters in all seasons and hunter groups harvested a similar proportion of females. The percent female composition of the archery, muzzleloader, and regular firearms season was 37%, 34%, and 34%, respectively. Female bears represented 31% of the hound-hunter harvest.
Top 10 Counties
| 2006-07 | Harvest | 2007-08 | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rockingham | 162 | Rockingham | 159 |
| Augusta | 124 | Page | 82 |
| Alleghany | 113 | Rockbridge | 78 |
| Shenandoah | 91 | Albemarle | 78 |
| Page | 90 | Augusta | 77 |
| Madison | 89 | Madison | 76 |
| Bath | 75 | Shenandoah | 72 |
| Rockbridge | 69 | Botetourt | 66 |
| Craig | 66 | Highland | 65 |
| Albemarle | 63 | Nelson | 59 |
Annual Bear Harvest
