This is West Virginia's published 2026-27 season, the whole state at once. A pin reads its county off the map and cuts this to the seasons, arms and limits that apply there.

West Virginia deer seasons

2026-27

2 antlered deer per licence year. Two antlered deer across the regular deer seasons and the Mountaineer Heritage Season combined — a third if at least one of them comes from a West Virginia CWD containment area. A senior holding a Class XS licence may take three wherever they are taken. Regulations Summary p. 10.

Archery and Crossbow
Bow or crossbow
The long one, from the last Saturday in September to the end of the year.
Statewide
Sep 26 – Dec 31Either sex
Three deer across archery and crossbow combined.
- Maximum combined archery and crossbow bag limit is three deer. One either-sex deer comes with the base licence; two more, one of which must be antlerless, need a Class RB or RRB stamp each. Regulations Summary p. 13.
- Orange is still required on any day a firearms or muzzleloader deer season is open in the county. Regulations Summary p. 10.
- You may not be afield with both a gun and a bow, or with a gun and an arrow — a firearm carried for self-defence aside. Regulations Summary p. 26.
Buck Firearms
Rifle, shotgun, handgun or muzzleloader
The fortnight from the Monday before Thanksgiving — West Virginia's buck season.
Statewide
Nov 23 – Dec 6Antlered only
One antlered deer on the base licence, a second on a Class RG stamp.
- A blaze orange outer garment of at least 400 square inches is required in any county, or part of one, where a deer firearms or muzzleloader season is open. Regulations Summary p. 10.
- An additional antlered deer in this season needs a Class RG stamp, bought before the season opens. Regulations Summary p. 45.
Antlerless Firearms
Rifle, shotgun, handgun or muzzleloaderPrinted in 3 columns — check which covers your county.
Four separate stretches between late October and the end of the year, and only in the counties the table opens.
Three-deer counties
Oct 22–25Antlerless only
Nov 23 – Dec 6Antlerless only
Dec 10–13Antlerless only
Dec 28–31Antlerless only
Three Class N or NN deer in this county, within a statewide limit of three.
One-deer counties
Oct 22–25Antlerless only
Nov 23 – Dec 6Antlerless only
Dec 10–13Antlerless only
Dec 28–31Antlerless only
One Class N or NN deer in this county, within a statewide limit of three.
Limited-permit counties
Oct 22–25Antlerless only
Nov 23 – Dec 6Antlerless only
Dec 10–13Antlerless only
Dec 28–31Antlerless only
One Class N or NN deer across this whole group of counties and WMAs.
- Every antlerless deer taken in this season, or in the part of it that runs alongside the buck firearms season, must be taken on a Class N or NN stamp, a Class DT licence, or as a landowner. Only one antlerless deer may be taken on each stamp. Regulations Summary p. 19.
- Whatever the county allows, no more than three Class N or NN deer may be taken statewide in a year. Regulations Summary p. 20.
Muzzleloader
Muzzleloading firearm
A week in the middle of December.
Statewide
Dec 14–20Either sex
One deer on the base licence and big game stamp; another on a Class RM stamp.
- An additional deer in this season needs a Class RM stamp, bought before the season opens. Regulations Summary p. 45.
- Small game may be hunted during the muzzleloader season with a .22 rimfire or a .22 air rifle. Regulations Summary p. 10.
- Blaze orange of at least 400 square inches is required. Regulations Summary p. 10.
Special Split Youth, Class Q and Class XS
Rifle, shotgun, handgun or muzzleloader
Two weekends set aside for youth hunters, Class Q permit holders and seniors on a Class XS licence.
Statewide
Oct 17–18Either sex
Dec 26–27Either sex
Counts against the county's antlerless allowance and the statewide antlered limit.
- New this year: youth and Class Q permit holders may take one antlered deer during these seasons. Regulations Summary p. 3.
- The Class N antlerless stamp is not required during these seasons. Regulations Summary p. 45.
- Blaze orange applies to these days in the counties or parts of counties where they run. Regulations Summary p. 10.
Mountaineer Heritage
Flintlock or percussion muzzleloader, longbow, recurve or crossbow
Four days in the middle of January, with the old arms.
Statewide
Jan 14–17Either sex
Counts against the two-antlered-deer limit, which this season shares with the regular seasons.
- This season falls in the new calendar year, and West Virginia licences are good for the calendar year — a 2027 licence is needed for it. Regulations Summary p. 45.
- In Logan, McDowell, Mingo and Wyoming counties bear and turkey may now be taken with any weapon legal during this season. Regulations Summary p. 3.
- Blaze orange applies. Regulations Summary p. 10.

New This Season

What changed since last year, and is therefore easiest to get wrong.

Season dates and open counties for antlerless deer, fall wild turkey and black bear have changed.
Youth and Class Q permit holders may now take one antlered deer during the special split youth and Class Q seasons.
In Logan, McDowell, Mingo and Wyoming counties, bear and turkey may be taken with any weapon legal during the statewide Mountaineer Heritage Season.

Legal Arms

West Virginia Hunting and Trapping Regulations Summary, July 2026 - June 2027 weapon specifications, as the digest prints them.

Archery and crossbow

Regulations Summary p. 26

Bow.
Crossbow.

Being afield with a gun at the same time, self-defence carry aside.

Firearms

Regulations Summary p. 10

Rifle, shotgun, handgun or muzzleloader, as the season allows.

Shot shells containing shot larger than No. 4 unless lawfully hunting waterfowl with non-toxic shot.

Muzzleloader

Regulations Summary p. 10

Muzzleloading firearm.
A .22 rimfire or .22 air rifle may be used for small game during this season.

Mountaineer Heritage arms

Regulations Summary p. 32

Flintlock or percussion muzzleloader.
Longbow, recurve or crossbow.

Modern firearms, outside the four southern counties named for bear and turkey.

Hunting Hours and Orange

What the state defines as legal light, and what has to be worn in it.

Legal Shooting Hours

Regulations Summary p. 10

Half an hour before sunrise until half an hour after sunset.

Fluorescent Orange

Regulations Summary p. 10

A blaze orange outer garment of at least 400 square inches. Required of anyone hunting in a county, or a part of one, where a deer firearms or muzzleloader season is open — the special youth, Class Q and Class XS antlerless days and the Mountaineer Heritage Season included. It does not apply to waterfowl hunters or to people farming their own land.

Sundays

Regulations Summary, Sunday hunting

West Virginia allows Sunday hunting on private land with the landowner's written consent, and on public land in every county. The seasons themselves run every day they are open.

Standing Rules

The parts of the digest that are true every day of the season.

Bag limits

Regulations Summary pp. 10 and 20

Two antlered deer across the regular seasons and the Mountaineer Heritage Season combined — three if at least one comes from a CWD containment area, and three for a Class XS senior wherever they are taken.
No more than three Class N or NN antlerless deer statewide in a year, however many counties are hunted.
Three deer across the archery and crossbow seasons combined.
After taking the legal daily or season limit, a hunter may not carry on hunting deer with bow, crossbow or firearm for the rest of the day.

Afield with two arms

Regulations Summary p. 26

Being afield with both a gun and a bow, or a gun and an arrow — a firearm carried lawfully for self-defence aside.
Being afield with an air rifle and a bow, or an air rifle and any arrow, at the same time.
Baiting or feeding wildlife on public land at any time.

Tagging and Reporting

The clock that starts the moment the deer is down.

Regulations Summary, game checking

Every deer must be reported before the deer is transported from the place of kill, and by the game check deadline.

Register the deer electronically through WVhunt.com or the DNR's telephone system
Keep the confirmation number with the carcass

Where This App Is Coarser Than the Digest

Said plainly, because an absence is easy to read as a permission.

Licences are good for the calendar year and the seasons are not. The Mountaineer Heritage Season falls in January 2027 and needs a 2027 licence; a 2026 one expires on 31 December.
Six counties are split by the antlerless table — Greenbrier, Mineral, Fayette, Raleigh, Kanawha and Wayne — on lines drawn along roads and rivers. This app resolves a pin as far as the county and carries one side of each. Check pp. 22-23 of the Regulations Summary.
Limited-permit counties share their one antlerless deer with a group of counties and WMAs rather than counting per county, and the permit quotas — 300 in Boone, 400 and 250 in the two halves of Kanawha, 350 in Webster — are not carried here.
Wildlife management areas, state forests and the national forest run their own antlerless quotas separate from the county's, and several state parks run lottery deer hunts in November. Neither is on this calendar.
West Virginia's peak breeding date is an estimate. WVDNR names late October's pre-rut and the November rut without printing a peak, and the 14-17 November conception peak attributed to the agency reaches this app only at second hand; the rut meter uses 15 November.
West Virginia publishes no open statewide parcel service this app can query, so there are no property lines on the map here.

Useful Numbers

The agency, when the app cannot answer it.

Licences and game check: WVhunt.com
WVDNR District 3: 304.924.6211
Wildlife Resources Section: WVdnr.gov

Transcribed from the published 2026-27 West Virginia digest. Where this app and the digest disagree, the digest is the law. Read the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources digest.