MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The longtime winter tradition in the City of Morgantown has once again found multiple ways to contribute to the community.
Organizers with the Morgantown Urban Archery Deer Hunt announced that 143 deer were harvested as part of the 2024 iteration of the hunt, which resulted in over 1,300 pounds of ground venison being donated to local food banks. Event Co-Chair Rick Bebout announced that the donations this year allowed for the hunt to reach another donation milestone ahead of his formal presentation with the Morgantown City Council scheduled for Tuesday.
“The 2024 season was another great one, we harvested 143 deer, of those 143, 43 of them were donated,” said Bebout. “With the 1,300 pounds, in our 14-year program history, we were able to surpass the 7-ton mark of donated ground venison,” he said.
The 2024 Morgantown Urban Archery Deer Hunt had over 90 hunters participate in over 30 locations within Morgantown city limits. This includes a combination of public and private properties as part of agreements with West Virginia University, the City of Morgantown, and individual landowners. These properties, according to Bebout, allow for bow, safety-trained hunters to go and harvest deer in areas that have been determined to play a role in the large deer population in the area that caused the hunt to be implemented in 2010.
“A lot of these properties, they bump up to large expansive properties that are outside of the city limits,” said Bebout. “So every year, you come in, you take some deer out, and the deer kind of backfill, and that’s certainly the case in places like the (West Virginia) University Farms on West Run and South Point Circle,” he said.
According to Bebout, organizers of the Morgantown Urban Archery Hunt work with close to a dozen different local organizations that give out food in parts of Downtown Morgantown. This includes Trinity Episcopal Church, Pantry Plus More, and the social service agencies operating out of Hazel’s House of Hope on Scott Avenue. The food is ground up and packaged by hunters and volunteers and is given out on a weekly basis.
“Usually the venison is packed in two-pound packages, and when they have ten to twelve ready for pick-up, myself or one of our hunters goes up, and we coordinate drop-offs,” said Bebout.
With the Morgantown Urban Archery Hunt prepared to enter its 15th year of activity, Bebout hopes that more hunting grounds will be available with participation from local landowners. This includes consideration of properties in heavily wooded parts of the city and continued cooperation with West Virginia University and the City of Morgantown for use of farm and approved parks and recreation locations. With over a thousand pounds of food donated as part of the 2024 iteration of the hunt, Bebout and the rest of the event organizers will be ready to roll next fall.
“With all of the development in town, our biggest hurdle each year is losing property and finding new property,” said Bebout. ”
So once we have a formula for that, Paul will reach out to each of them, those that can make the mandatory safety class in July will be invited, and then we’ll start the whole thing over,” he said.
Morgantown Urban Archery Hunt is chaired by Paul Crumrine. Bebout will address the Morgantown City Council during the regular meeting Tuesday night.