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2006-2007 Black Bear Harvest Summary
Tracking population growth, Virginia's 2006-07 black bear harvest increased to the highest annual level ever recorded at 1,633 bears. In line with the 2006-07 harvest, Virginia's black bear harvest trend has been increasing at an average annual rate of 7.6% per year over the past decade. The 2006-07 harvest was 13% greater than last year's harvest of 1,439 and exceeded the previous 2003-04 record kill of 1,511 by 8%.
Bear harvests west and east of the Blue Ridge Mountains were 1,231 (up 10% from last season) and 402 (up 25%), respectively. Similar to 2005, the 8 counties surrounding Shenandoah National Park produced 41% (662 bears) of the total bear kill.
The archery harvest of 425 bears was a 37% increase from the previous year. At 26%, the archery portion of the total harvest was slightly greater than the 21% average observed since 1995. Reflecting their increased popularity, crossbows accounted for 38% of the entire archery harvest of bears.
The 4-day muzzleloading season accounted for 90 bears (6% of the total harvest). Although this was down 38% compared to 2005, the 2006 harvest was similar to the 2004 muzzleloading season.
The 2006-07 regular firearms harvest of 1,118 bears was a 14% increase over the 2005-06 season. Dog hunters accounted for about 50% of the regular firearms harvest and 33% of the total bear kill.
Similar to the long-term average of 37%, the harvest was comprised of 35% females. Bear hunters in all seasons and hunter groups harvested a similar proportion of females. The percent female composition of the archery, muzzleloader, and regular firearms season was 32%, 41%, and 35%, respectively. Female bears represented 33% of the hound-hunter harvest.
Top 10 Counties
2006-2007
2005-2006
Rockingham
162
Rockingham
153
Augusta
124
Madison
95
Alleghany
113
Alleghany
88
Shenandoah
91
Augusta
86
Page
90
Rockbridge
84
Madison
89
Albemarle
66
Bath
75
Shenandoah
66
Rockbridge
69
Page
60
Craig
66
Rappahannock
57
Albemarle
63
Bath
56
Annual Bear Harvest
