Hunters reported killing fewer deer, bear and wild turkey during the 2022–23 hunting seasons, according to statistics released by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources.
The deer kill dropped by 3%, the bear harvest fell by a whopping 25% and the wild turkey take decreased by less than 2% from last year.
State biologists predicted numbers would be down before the season began, largely due to an abundant acorn crop across much of Virginia. Wild game doesn’t have to roam quite as much looking for food when ample food is available.
Deer numbers
Deer hunters killed 184,968 deer compared to 190,582 deer in the previous season. This included 90,242 antlered bucks, 1,113 bucks with shed antlers, 11,921 button bucks, and 81,692 does. Does comprised 44% of the total deer kill.
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Youth and apprentice deer-hunting weekend hunters took 2,358 deer. Archery hunters tallied 16% of the total deer harvest while muzzleloading deer hunters and firearms hunters shot 24% and 60% of deer killed, respectively.
The recent deer season numbers were off 8% compared to the most recent 10-year average, according to DWR. The department frequently cites abundant mast crops, along with weather variabilities, to explain decreased deer kill. Plus, DWR has set seasons expressly designed to reduce deer populations in many counties. Reductions address several factors, notably increases in the human population and apparent conflicts created when human desires clash with wildlife needs.
Crunching numbers
During the last decade of my career with the Department of Defense, presenting and analyzing numbers was a big part of the gig. So, here’s a little crunching.
On the surface, an 8% drop statewide doesn’t sound so bad — and it’s probably not. Some counties are seeing sustained or even improving deer hunting.
But I’ve tracked the deer kill in 10 counties surrounding the extended Fredericksburg region for nearly a quarter of a century. These include counties from Prince William to Caroline and extending east and west where the pressures of Northern Virginia sprawl are steadily exerting sway.
In the 10-county region we’ve tracked, the annual deer kill over the last 10 years averages 22,609. The 2022–23 deer season kill in these same counties was 18,154. This is about a 20% drop against the 10-year average, which far exceeds the statewide average.
Something else besides weather and abundant acorns is tanking the deer kill in counties along the Interstate 95 corridor. Conversion of agricultural land and forests into subdivisions, strip malls and industrial parks in this area has created, in my opinion, an irreversible decline in our regional deer hunting.
Across much of the region, I’d wager the trend will be more toward backyard deer hunting like that seen in Fairfax County. Traditional hunting methods will decline as habitat erodes; it is inevitable.
Protect habitat
A recent National Deer Association Report found 88% of white-tailed deer killed nationwide are taken on private land. Virginia ranked fifth in the nation in terms of percentage of deer killed on private land. Even though 17.1% of Virginia consists of public land (per summitpost.org), 95 percent of the deer killed here come from private land, according to NDA.
Habitat is everything when it comes to having optimum numbers of healthy wildlife. If you own or have access to quality habitat, do all you can to protect and conserve it.
Encourage habitat improvements on public lands and conservation easements on private lands. Resist narrow or self-serving political interests of those who never met a farm, field or forest they didn’t want to bulldoze for development.
Bear numbers
Hunters reported taking 2,232 bears last season, 29% below the previous five-year average. Female bears comprised a lower proportion (41%) of the recent harvest, although hunters during the youth/apprentice weekend appear to have taken a disproportionate number (58% last season) of sows. An estimated 54% of bears were taken by hunters using hounds.
Why the lower kill number? According to DWR, it’s acorn abundance and recent firearms season expansions designed to reduce bear populations, especially in western Virginia. Another possibility is sarcoptic mange, a skin disease in bears that is rampaging across many states from Pennsylvania southward.
Fall turkey
A total of 1,621 wild turkeys were killed during Virginia’s 2022–23 fall turkey hunting season, a slight decrease over the 2021–22 harvest of 1,644.
Fall turkey hunting participation has declined for years, with many hunters then targeting other species or preserving their gobbler tags for the spring. Interestingly, the archery harvest (bows and crossbows combined) was again relatively high, about 22% of the birds taken.
While Virginia’s turkey populations are judged sound, reproductive success varies widely, often on a regional basis. Bad spring weather is a major culprit.
In 2022, DWR’s productivity estimate of 1.9 poults per hen was below the long-term average of 2.6 poults per hen for Virginia. It’s a tough life being a young turkey — a near miracle that some birds reach thundering gobbler adulthood.
Again, quality habitat and responsible, ethical hunting will go a long way to ensuring these great game birds thrive.
Top smallmouth waters
The James, New, and Roanoke rivers were the reported top locations last year to catch a trophy smallmouth bass, at least according to the number of citation fish registered in Virginia’s Online Virginia Angler Recognition Program.
Smallmouth bass must be at least 20 inches long for a length citation or weigh 5 pounds for a weight citation. The recognition program is a voluntary effort based on the honor system. Not every citation caught in Virginia is entered into the program. And, as we all know, fishermen never lie.
