SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Nearly 2,400 black bears were killed during West Virginia's combined 2014 archery and firearms season.
The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources says the preliminary data reflect an 11 percent decline from the 2013 bear take.
Colin Carpenter is black bear project leader for the division. He said the 2014 harvest marks the fifth time in as many years that bear kills have topped 2,000. He said it is the third highest kill number on record.
Carpenter attributed the dip in the harvest to a decrease in the number of hunting days, among other factors.
The precise number of bear killed in 2014 was 2,385.
