National Conservation Training Center Facility

NCTC Deer Hunt 2022

We are looking forward to the start of the twentieth annual managed deer hunt at the National Conservation Training Center this fall. Letters have been mailed to all applicants regarding selection for hunts. Only hunters who receive a letter may hunt. Details on the hunt are included on the links and documents below.  On October 1^st from 9 a.m. to noon an optionalQ & A and scouting day will be held for hunters to look at the stand areas.  The first hunt is on Saturday, October 15.  We appreciate the assistance of our local hunters in helping keep the deer population in balance with available habitat. 

The COVID-19 pandemic may affect how we do things and could possibly cause cancellation of hunts.  The health and safety of our staff, hunters, and the public are our priority.  Hunters should check their email periodically for any updates.

Applications were due by August 31, 2022; the application period has closed.  Hunters are randomly selected from those who apply for a given date and are assigned a certain location from which to hunt.

Deer Hunting Requirements | Archery Requirements | COVID-19 Required Precautions | Non-Toxic Ammunition for Deer Hunting | Hunt Date and Times | Contact Information

Deer Hunting Requirements

1. Measures required by the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) to curb the spread of COVID-19, such as physical distancing and wearing a mask, must be followed. Covid-19 Required Precautions

2. Hunters must comply with all Federal and State hunting laws and regulations. For purposes of WV hunting regulations, NCTC is considered “private land”.  WV hunting regulations can be obtained from local license agents, or online at http://www.wvdnr.gov/hunting/hunting_regs.shtm.

3. All persons hunting on NCTC will be required to obtain the necessary WV State hunting licenses, stamps, permits, and hunter’s safety education card, including out-of-state hunters, and present them at check-in.  For information on licenses go to   http://www.wvdnr.gov/hunting/licensing.shtm  

4. All hunters, and those adults accompanying youth hunters, are required to have completed an approved hunter education course, even if born before 1975.  Out-of-state hunter safety education cards are usually acceptable to WV.  For information about WV DNR-sponsored classes in our area, call 1-800-243-9968 or view online at https://register-ed.com/programs/westvirginia/189-hunter-education-program

5. Children must be at least 10 years of age to hunt at NCTC.  Youth hunters 10 to 14 years of age are not required to have a license but must possess a hunter’s education certification and be accompanied by a responsible adult with a WV hunting license and hunters’ education certification card.  Youth hunters 15 to 17 years of age must possess the required WV hunting license and hunters’ safety card but may hunt alone.

6. Archery hunters will be assigned to a designated zone and within that zone may hunt from a pre-existing stand or blind (if one is present), a stand or blind erected by the hunter, or from the ground near the stand.  See the Archery Hunting Requirements information sheet.

7. Firearms (shotgun and muzzleloader) hunters will be assigned a location with a two-person ladder stand and must limit shooting to within the zone marked by painted stakes.  No firearms hunter will be allowed to use a personal stand but may choose to hunt from the ground within 10 feet of the NCTC stand.

8. All persons using any elevated stands are required to use a commercially made safety harness, preferably one certified by the Treestand Manufacturers Association http://www.tmastands.com/product/. No homemade harnesses are allowed. 

9. Only modern shotguns of 20 gauge or larger, loaded with a non-toxic slug or sabot rounds, are permitted during shotgun hunts. A muzzleloader rifle cannot be used during shotgun hunt dates.  No handguns are allowed, even if carried for non-hunting purposes with a WV permit.

10. Non-toxic ammunition free of lead must be used in all firearms, including muzzleloaders.  Non-toxic ammunition is also known as lead-free or non-lead. Read Non-Toxic Ammunition Requirement.

11. A hunter at NCTC must take an antlerless deer first (doe, or male deer with no antler longer than 3-inches), and then may take an antlered deer if on a date when antlered hunting is allowed by WV (including Special Hunt days at NCTC in October).  An antlerless deer taken during that season, or a previous season, at NCTC qualifies a hunter to take an antlered buck.  However, once an antlered deer is taken, another antlerless deer must be taken before another antlered buck. The last deer taken must have been antlerless in order to take a buck.

12. Hunting on October hunt dates are part of a Special Hunt granted by WV DNR.  A total of 2 any-sex deer (subject to NCTC’s antlerless-first rules) may be taken on Special Hunt dates, by shotgun or archery, which does not count toward the hunter’s season bag limit.  A WV hunting license is required but no stamps are required. 

13. All hunters are required to check in at the NCTC check station prior to hunting and check out when they are finished hunting, whether they have taken a deer or not.  All deer taken must be checked in electronically and tagged at the check station before they are removed from NCTC property.  Hunters who have obtained a WV DNR ID number (good for your lifetime) should have it with them.

14. Hunters selected for a hunt who find they cannot attend should contact NCTC at the deer hunt email nctc_deerhunt@fws.gov  or phone line (304-876-7474) at least one month prior to that hunt date so that an alternate can be selected.  Hunters failing to show up for selected hunts may be subject to limitations or sanctions for future hunts.

15. Hunters selected for a given hunt session must check in by the close of the check-in time for that session.  If not present by that time they are no longer guaranteed a stand and an alternate may be drawn to take their place.

16. Hunters must park in designated parking spots for their stands, without blocking access trails, and travel to and from stands by the designated trails.

17. Firearms must be unloaded and have the action open when traveling to and from the stand. Muzzleloaders are considered unloaded when uncapped or when the priming charge is removed from the pan.

18. In order to prevent accidental intrusion into the shooting zone of other hunters, tracking beyond 100 yards from the hunting site must be done in the presence of an NCTC hunt-affiliated staff member.

19. Hunters may not track wounded deer with a firearm or bow.  The firearm should be un-loaded, the chamber opened and left at the stand or cased and put in the hunter’s vehicle.

20. With the exception of hunting from the designated stand, a firearm is only to be loaded for dispatching a wounded deer if within 100 yards of the hunter’s stand or in the presence of an NCTC hunt staff member. 

21.  Deer must be field dressed a sensible distance from the stand site or at the designated area near the NCTC Hunt Check Station, not on trails or areas visible from roads or trails.  Archery stands in the main campus area near buildings) must use the Hunt Check Station designated area for field dressing or remove the deer from NCTC property intact.

22. Any accidents or injuries must be reported to the NCTC Check Station in person or by phone (304-876-7782) [or to Security (304-876-7911)] as soon as possible.  

Archery Requirements

The basic rules described in the Hunter Orientation Course and on the “Deer Hunting Requirements” sheet apply to all hunters.  Information specific to archery hunting is outlined below.

1. All archery weapons legal for hunting deer in West Virginia are allowed, including crossbows. 

2. Archery hunters will be assigned to a “Deer Stand”, which might be an existing NCTC elevated stand or ground blind.  The zone 150 feet [50 yards] around the stand or marked tree in every safe direction is the area allowable for the assigned archery hunter. 

3. Archery hunters may use an existing NCTC stand if one is present at that site.  Hunters assigned to those locations may instead choose to use their own tree stand or ground blind, or hunt from the ground. Only free-standing, climbing, hang-on, or ladder-type stands will be permitted.

4. Hunters may not wire, screw, bolt, or nail steps or stands to trees or other objects, or drive any objects into a tree, nor cut any tree.  Minor pruning and brush cutting is allowed. 

5. Archery hunters are allowed a full 360-degree zone of fire, if safe.

6. Hunter-owned stands may be placed the day prior to the hunt (with prior approval of Land Manager) or placed and removed at the beginning and end of each hunt session. 

7. Archery hunting is not allowed from firearms stands during firearms hunt days.

8. Hunters using elevated stands are required to use a commercially made safety harness, preferably one certified by the Treestand Manufacturers Association (TMA), (website http://www.tmastands.com/  No homemade safety harnesses are allowed.

9. Archery hunters are required by WV regulations to wear 400 sq. inches of hunter blaze orange while hunting during days that are included in a deer firearms season.  This includes all hunt days in 2022 at NCTC except November 12^th, when orange may be omitted.

COVID-19 Required Precautions

Unless deemed unnecessary by an improved COVID situation, all hunters must follow these precautions while participating in hunts at NCTC.

1. Hunters and others must wear face-covering masks when in any building, parking lots, or within 6 ft. of any person who did not arrive with them in the same vehicle.

2. Hunters will stop at the Security Guard Station upon arrival and then proceed to the Check Station.

3. Hunters arriving to check in for their assigned stands or to register as stand-by will refrain from gathering and must maintain at least a 6-foot separation from others.

4. Hunters arriving for stand-by hunts will place their name in a designated container for drawing and then remain outside or in vehicles. At the end of the check-in time, they will come forward one at a time as their name is called to select their stand.

5.  After the hunt, hunters must check out through the Check Station before leaving NCTC, using a face covering/mask and physical distancing as at check-in.

6. Hunters who killed a deer need to bring it to the garage doors at the Check Station where they will receive instructions on what to do

Non-Toxic Ammunition for Deer Hunting

The use of non-toxic ammunition, also known as non-lead or lead-free ammunition (though some acceptable ammunition may contain trace amounts of lead), has increased primarily due to the toxicity of lead when ingested by wildlife. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requires the use of non-lead ammunition for waterfowl hunting throughout the U.S., and it encourages its use in all hunting. One problem that can occur in deer hunting is that lead bullet or slug fragments, or even tiny particles, can be ingested by scavenging birds and animals (including bald eagles), which are then poisoned. For this reason NCTC has required the use of non-toxic ammunition for all firearms hunting since 2013.

The following are some examples of nontoxic ammunition that could be used at NCTC as part of our managed deer hunt. Listing of a company or product does not constitute an endorsement, nor does it imply suitability to the exclusion of other products that may also be suitable. Hunters are encouraged to investigate to determine the non-lead ammunition that will best suit his or her needs.

• Shotgun Slugs – for smoothbore shotguns
  • Brenneke - RubinSabot nature, TKO Non-toxic tin in sabot slugs – may also be used in rifled barrels
  • DDupleks - Monolit - steel & polymer slug – may also be used in rifled barrels
  • DDupleks - Dupo, Hexolit and Rossa - expanding steel & polymer slugs – may also be used in rifled barrels
  • Winchester - Super X Zinc
• Slugs Sabot Slugs – for shotguns with rifled barrels or rifled choke tubes – also see smoothbore slugs, above
  • Brenneke - SuperSabot Lead-Free, Topas Sabot Nature
  • Federal - Premium Trophy Copper Sabot Slug
  • Hornady - Superformance MonoFlex Polymer-Tipped Slug
  • Remington - Premier Copper Solid Sabot Slug
  • Winchester - "Deer Season" Copper Impact Extreme Point Copper Sabot Slug
• Muzzleloader Bullets
  • Round Balls:
    • TomBob ITX Muzzleloader Roundballs
  • Full-Bore Conical Bullets:
    • Federal Premium Trophy Copper, with polymer base
    • Thor Bullets Full Bore Muzzleloader Copper Bullet
  • Sabot Bullets:
    • Barnes - Expander MZ, Spit-Fire TMZ, Spit-Fire T-EZ and Magnum EZ Bullets
    • EcoSlug ML expanding slug
    • TomBob ITX Sabot Bullets

Companies referenced above:

• Barnes Bullets LLC http://www.barnesbullets.com
• Brenneke USA www.brennekeusa.com
• DDupleks Ltd. http://ddupleks.com
• EcoSlug ML www.eco-slug.com
• Federal Cartridge Company www.federalpremium.com
• Hornady http://www.hornady.com
• Remington Arms Company, Inc. www.remington.com
• Thor Bullets http://www.thorbullets.com/
• TomBob Outdoors LLC www.tomboboutdoors.com
• Winchester Ammunition www.winchester.com

Deer Hunt Date and Times

Report to the Check Station at Support Services

Contact Information:

• Email: nctc_deerhunt@fws.gov
• Phone: 304-876-7474 - Office
• Deer Check Station - 304-876-7782 – only answered on hunt days
• Mailing Address: Land Manager, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 698 Conservation Way Shepherdstown, WV 25443
• Report Accidents:  NCTC Check Station in person or by phone (304-876-7782) [or to Security (304-876-7911)] as soon as possible.