Which WV counties are producing the biggest bucks?

[Lord_Stark]

I am planning my season and trying to figure out where to focus my efforts. I keep hearing about Randolph and Preston counties, but I'm wondering if those spots are just overcrowded now. Where are you guys actually seeing mature bucks? I don't need your exact honey hole...just general areas

 

[pasound]

I swear they know when hunting season is coming. In my county they move into the rural neighborhoods adjacent to the areas around the Kanawha valley, and sometimes into town (lots of oak and walnut mast to feed on).
More seriously, check the maps here: https://www.mapwv.gov/huntfish/map/?v=hunt
Eastern counties have the best chances of bringing some venison home. Pocahontas, Webster, Pendleton, Randolph, Tucker, and Grant are always good. Preston is mountainous, but has no public forests, so hunting is often ask the owner.
But not to say that the forests close by many of the cities and towns in the west and southwest counties are not available.
I've had deer in the state forests and parks in Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Jackson, and Putnam counties walk right up to me as if they were tame and had no fear. And it was always somewhere I couldn't shoot them and get them into the freezer.
We've had deer culls in Charleston for several years now, usually archery, and there is bound to be another this year.

 

[Shortie_]

From what I’ve seen and heard the last few seasons, Randolph and Preston get a lot of attention because they’ve got good habitat and good numbers, but you’ll be dealing with pressure. Upshur, Pocahontas, and Greenbrier have been putting out some nice bucks too and the central counties with a mix of farmland and timber seem to hold plenty of mature deer. If you’re looking to avoid crowds, I’d lean toward the less talked-about southern and central counties, still good genetics, but not as packed with hunters as the big names. It really comes down to scouting and finding those overlooked pockets