Wildlife biologists with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) have compiled preliminary 2020-21 bear, deer and turkey harvest data figures for the 2020-21 hunting season.
Deer and turkey harvests increased slightly from the 2019-20 season while the bear harvest was just under the previous year’s record.
Deer kill summary
During the 2020–21 deer hunting season, hunters harvested 208,131 deer in Virginia, up less than 1% from the 206,976 deer taken during the same time frame the previous season. This year’s total included 100,821 antlered bucks, 1,117 bucks that had shed their antlers, 13,230 button bucks, 91,275 does (44%), and 1,748 deer of unknown sex.
The youth and apprentice deer-hunting weekend resulted in a harvest of 3,159 deer. Archery hunters took 14% of the total deer harvest while muzzleloading deer hunters and firearms hunters took 24% and 63% of the total harvest, respectively.
In the Northern Neck, 912 deer were harvested in Lancaster, 910 in Northumberland, 1,135 in Richmond and 1,302 in Westmoreland counties.
Deer project leader Matt Knox said the overall….
