WVTA - News

Otter Sightings

Anyone seeing otter in the state of West Virginia is urged to contact Rich Rogers, WV-DNR, to provide information for an ongoing study on otter. According to Rogers, the information will help establish data on the otter population, which will in turn, give WV-DNR officials needed input to establish an otter season in the future.
Information supplied should include where the otter were seen (river or stream name and closest town), the number of otter seen. Any additional data provided would be most helpful. Please contact Rich by e-mail at rerogers@citlink.net

New Beaver Tagging Information

Beginning this trapping season, when a trapper brings in multiple beavers, only the first tag needs to be fully filled out. Successive tags need only have check station name, trapper name, date of kill, county of kill filled out for beaver being checked that particular day. This protocol will be followed for each day that pelts are brought in to be checked regardless of number.
This should work especially well for beaver with current liberal seasons and bag limits. There are usually no more than around 2000 beaver harvested in a given year with a handful of trappers accounting for over 25% of the total. This change will make it much easier for check station operators and trappers to fulfill tagging requirements while allowing biologists to continue collecting pertinent harvest information.

A law change effective June 9, 2007, requires that each person killing a bobcat must attach a completed field tag to the bobcat or remain with the bobcat and have upon their person a completed field tag before moving the carcass
from where it was killed. A person who does not have a field tag must make one. This tag must bear the hunter’s name, address, hunting license number (if required) and the date, time and county of kill. Immediately upon arriving
at a residence, camp, hunting lodge, vehicle or vessel the field tag must be attached to the bobcat and remain on the carcass until it is tagged with an official game checking tag, which must be completed within 30 days of the close of bobcat season.