CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Members of the House Agriculture, Commerce, and Tourism committee denied one bill related to deer hunting and advanced another into the markup and passage stage.
House Bill 4504 would require a second buck taken by a hunter in West Virginia to have at least three scoreable points on one side before it would be legal. The legislation was introduced by Delegate John Hott of Grant County.
“Many other states have put forth horn restrictions with one intention and one intention only, to increase the size of the antlered deer,” said Hott when he presented the bill to members of the committee on Friday.
“There has been a lot of success. Pennsylvania could certainly show success. I’m not so I’d ever want to be quite as strict as Ohio, but if you absolutely want the best opportunity for the money you spend you to go Ohio because you can harvest one antlered deer and you’re done, so people aren’t so quick to harvest an antlered deer,” Hott added.
Currently West Virginia’s only restriction on antlers is they must be at least three inches above the hairline to be considered a legal buck during the buck hunting season. The Natural Resources Commission in recent years adopted new regulations which reduced the bag limit for antlered deer in the state from three to two per year.
Members of the committee offered no questions to Hott about the bill and it advanced to the markup and passage stage.
The committee also took up House Bill 4424 which would enable a landowner to pay hunters of their choice to kill deer on their property with crop damage permits. The bill however limited the hunt to archery only. DNR Law Enforcement Lt. Colonel Dave Trader fielded questions of the committee about the measure.
Trader stated there are two ways to handle crop damage hunting presently. First a landowner can name the people they want to hunt on the permit once it is approved and they can hunt with a bow or firearm. Those people however cannot be paid or be compelled in any way to kill deer.
Secondly a landowner could hire a licensed professional hunter to eradicate the animals. Those individuals can be paid. Trader told lawmakers there are 31 such individuals across the state of West Virginia.
The law blocking payment for shooting deer was created many years ago as part of the North American Wildlife Model when commercial hunting nearly eradicated many natural resources in West Virginia and elsewhere.
The bill failed to advance.