West Virginia Trapping Regulations: Licenses, Seasons, and Trap Types

West Virginia trapping regulations are set by the Division of Natural Resources and cover licensing, trapper education, legal equipment, season dates, placement, daily checks, and post-harvest tagging. Furbearer seasons open the first Saturday in November and close between late January and the end of March depending on the species. Violations are misdemeanors, so the specifics on trap dimensions, placement, and reporting are worth getting right before you set your first stake.

License and Education

Residents ages 15 through 64 need a license before trapping any furbearing species. The common choice is the Class X license, which covers hunting, fishing, and trapping statewide for $33.¹ A Class XJ license is available for resident juniors. Nonresidents need a Class E license, a Class XXJ junior license, or one of the apprentice licenses (Class AAH or AAHJ), along with a CS/LE stamp. Licenses are sold through the DNR online portal or authorized retail agents.

Anyone born on or after July 1, 1966 must also complete a trapper education course before harvesting furbearers on land other than their own. The course covers trap safety, ethics, wildlife biology, and the state’s rules, and it applies even if you hold a lifetime license obtained before your fifteenth birthday.² Trappers born before that date are exempt from the education requirement but still must carry a valid license. Trapping without one is a misdemeanor under state law.³

Season Dates and Bag Limits

Every furbearer trapping season opens on the first Saturday in November. Closings vary by species:

Beaver: end of March
Bobcat, red and gray fox, mink, muskrat, raccoon, otter, skunk, opossum, coyote, and weasel: end of February
Fisher: end of January

No trap may be set before 8:00 a.m. on opening day, and no trap may be set or left in the field after noon on the last day of the season.⁴

Bobcats are limited to three per day and three per season, combining hunting and trapping harvests. Fishers are limited to one per day and one per season.⁵ Beaver, mink, muskrat, and otter may only be taken by trap; hunting them with firearms is not allowed.⁶ Dates and limits are reviewed annually, so check the current year’s regulations summary before the season.

Legal Traps and Sizes

Trap specifications are spelled out in the Code of State Rules, and the dimensions are strict. Measure your gear before you head out.

Foothold Traps

On land, foothold traps cannot have an open inside jaw spread greater than 6.5 inches. The size cap does not apply to traps set underwater, so larger footholds are permitted as long as they are fully submerged.⁶ Steel jaw traps with teeth on or attached to them are illegal in any set.

Body-Gripping Traps

For terrestrial sets, body-gripping (killer-type) traps are limited to a 5-inch inside jaw spread measured between the striking surfaces when set. Water sets have no specific size limit for body-gripping traps.⁶

Snares

All snares must be built from multiple-strand twisted steel cable. Terrestrial snares need a relaxing-type lock with a breaking point no greater than 350 pounds and a mechanical stop that keeps the loop from closing smaller than 2.5 inches in diameter. The maximum loop diameter when set is 15 inches. Foot snares are legal only when the loop sits horizontally at ground level and does not exceed 6.5 inches across.⁶

Prohibited Devices

Deadfalls and spring pole snares are both illegal. No trap or set may be placed more than three feet above the ground, water, or rock. The only exception is a natural earthen mound such as a muskrat house that formed without human help.⁶

Where You Can and Can’t Set

Traps cannot be set or maintained on human foot trails or livestock paths. Traps and snares cannot be placed within 50 feet of an animal or bird carcass unless the carcass is completely covered and hidden from view. Brush tossed on top will not satisfy the rule; if you are using a carcass for attraction nearby, it has to be buried or otherwise concealed.⁶

Trapping is prohibited in all state parks, wildlife refuges, and designated safety zones within state forests and Wildlife Management Areas. Federal regulations separately prohibit trapping in Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and on federally owned land within the New River Gorge National River. Trapping on state forests and WMAs outside closed areas is allowed with a separate trapping permit from the district wildlife biologist. Baiting or feeding wildlife on any public land is prohibited at all times.⁶ On U.S. Forest Service land, state regulations generally apply, but individual forests may close certain areas.

Daily Trap Checks

Every trap must be checked and tended each calendar day. The rule covers every trap type and every target species, with no exceptions for weather, water sets, or remote country.⁶ Running more sets than you can physically reach in a day invites a violation. If you accidentally take more animals than the possession limit allows, you must deliver the excess to a Natural Resources Police Officer within 24 hours.

Tagging and Reporting Your Harvest

If you harvest beaver, bobcat, fisher, or otter, you must electronically check the animal through the state’s game checking system within 30 days after the close of that species’ season. The check produces a 13-digit confirmation number that you record in writing with your name and address and attach to each pelt or whole animal. The confirmation stays with the pelt until it is sold, tanned, processed into commercial fur, or mounted.⁷

Federal law adds a CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) seal requirement for every bobcat and otter pelt, covering all pelts shipped to international markets. Seals are available from the WVDNR Elkins Operations Center or your local district office.⁷ Possessing an untagged bobcat or fisher hide more than 30 days after the season closes is illegal.⁶

If You Sell Pelts

Fur sales are taxable income. The IRS treats trapping as either a business or a hobby under Internal Revenue Code Section 183, and the classification controls what you can deduct. Showing a profit in three of five consecutive years creates a presumption that the activity is a business, but the IRS also looks at recordkeeping, use of a separate bank account, and the time and effort you invest. Hobby income is reported but expenses are not deductible against it; business income goes on Schedule C and allows deductions for traps, fuel, license fees, and similar costs. Either way, keep records of every pelt sold, including buyer, date, species, and amount.

1
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 20-2-42J
2
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code Chapter 20 Natural Resources 20-2-30a – Certificate of Training
3
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 20-2 – Wildlife Resources
4
Legal Information Institute. West Virginia Code R. 58-45-10 – Trapping Seasons
5
Legal Information Institute. West Virginia Code R. 58-45-11 – Trapping Bag and Possession Limits
6
Legal Information Institute. West Virginia Code R. 58-53-3 – General Trapping Rules
7
West Virginia Department of Commerce. West Virginia’s Small Game and Furbearer Seasons Open Nov. 2