In 2007, 29 counties or parts thereof will have a two deer of either sex bag limit: one deer on base license and one deer on RM/RRM licenses, Hall continued. Sixteen counties or parts thereof will have a two-deer bag limit: one either sex and one antlered deer or one on base license and one on RM/RRM license. Five counties or parts thereof will have a two-deer bag limit: antlered deer only or one on base license and one on RM/RRM license.

Unfortunately, the biologist stated, the past restrictions on killing antlerless deer on public land will remain in effect. That is why, for instance, I had to let that national forest doe walk away last December.

"Public land openings will remain essentially the same for the 2007 muzzleloader season," Hall said. "We have increased the number of wildlife management areas and state forests open to antlerless deer hunting with conventional firearms for youth and Class Q hunters (three days) from 21 to 48 and on private land in all counties having a firearms deer season."

In short, smokepolers will largely have to depend on private lands for antlerless hunting. Another important point to emphasize is that according to information published in the current Big Game Bulletin, "Antlerless deer will not be allowed to be taken on an unfilled RG or RGG additional deer license during the 2007 antlerless deer Class N season or muzzleloader season."

Hall urges sportsmen to consult the Web site of the DNR for complete, up-to-date information: www.wvdnr.gov. The current hunting regulations booklet is another excellent source for information.

STATE'S TOP COUNTIES
West Virginia sportsmen can gain insight on where to go this December if they know what the top smokepole counties were last year. The top 12 counties (with harvest numbers in parentheses) were as follows: Lewis (390), Preston (330), Monroe (289), Mason (288) Jackson (279), Ritchie (268), Upshur (257), Monongalia (251), Wood (230), Hardy (228), Barbour (221) and Grant (219).

There is no question that districts I and VI remain the hotspots for muzzleloader hunting. District I, which takes in the Northern Panhandle and much of the northern part of the state, features a number of small counties; yet, they combined to tally 1,905 whitetails -- leading the state.

As a group, the District I counties feature rolling hills, small tributaries of the Ohio River, scattered wood lots, small acreage agricultural concerns and brushy fields. For many, if not most, West Virginians, District I is a considerable driving distance; but if I really wanted to tag a deer during the December smokepole season, I would contact landowners in this region. Counties such as Barbour, Harrison, Marion, Marshall, Monongalia, Preston and Wetzel have considerable deer herds.

District VI, which encompasses the north-central part of the state and totaled 1,852 deer, features similar land type characteristics. Counties such as Doddridge, Gilmer, Jackson, Ritchie, Roane, Tyler and Wood usually account for solid harvests. This is another district that sportsmen should consider for this December.

Coming in third in the regional breakdown is District II, which covers the Eastern Panhandle and surrounding counties. Traditionally good counties in this district include Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Mineral and Pendleton. Terrain varies quite a bit in these domains, from Mineral, which lies along the Potomac, to Pendleton, which has a great deal of highland habitat.

In the other three districts, smokepole hunting was, for the most part, challenging in 2006. District III, which covers the mountainous central counties, accounted for 822 whitetails. Lewis and Upshur counties accounted for the vast majority of those deer, while the rest of the counties did not even top 50 in the harvest table. Finding a late-season deer and navigating through what is often deep snow will likely be a challenge in most of this region in 2007.

District V, which encompasses much of the western counties, only registered 668 whitetails. Mason County accounted for the greatest number of those, with Putnam second with just 112. Killing a doe in this region, outside of Mason, could be difficult this December.