BECKLEY, W.Va. — The first hunting season of the fall in West Virginia opens up this weekend. The early bear season starts Saturday and runs for nine days in Mingo, McDowell, Wyoming, and Logan Counties in the southern coalfields. Hunters have the opportunity to kill a bear, with a firearm, in those counties as a way to hopefully reduce the number of bears in that part of the state.

“Typically when we are looking to add days of hunting opportunity we’re trying to bring our numbers in line with management goals. In those four southern counties, bear numbers are above management objectives. What we typically do is bring the season in earlier in the year when all bears are available for harvest and what we typically see is a higher percentage of females in the harvest and that’s what we’re t

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