Hunters reported harvesting 2,988 bears during the 2021–2022 bear hunting seasons in Virginia. The 2021–2022 bear harvest was approximately 14 percent lower than the harvest the previous year and 16 percent lower than the statewide harvest reported during the 2019-20 record season; however, it was only one percent lower than the previous five-year average during 2016–2020.
A lower proportion of the 2021-22 season harvest consisted of female bears (44 percent) than the previous year (47 percent). Significant harvest decreases during the three-day early firearms season (35 percent) and archery season (35 percent) were the main contributors to the overall decline in the 2021-22 statewide bear harvest.
The youth/apprentice weekend harvest decreased by 13 percent and the firearms season decreased by less than one percent from the 2020-21 season. The muzzleloader season actually increased by two percent from the previous season.
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