Numbers and statistics are almost as important to deer hunters as they are to baseball fans.

Following is a "by-the-numbers" look at whitetail hunting in West Virginia.

1,000 - West Virginia's estimated statewide deer population in 1910, when whitetail numbers reached their lowest ebb.

1 million - The state's estimated deer population when numbers peaked in 2002.

1924 - The first year of a three-year moratorium on deer hunting. Conservation officials imposed the moratorium to allow depleted herds to recover.

21,951 - The number of deer killed during the infamous "Tucker Buck Wars," when Legislature-imposed hunter's-choice regulations caused hunters to descend on Grant and Tucker counties where populations were highest.

6,187 - The statewide deer kill six years after the Tucker Buck Wars depleted the population.

1973 - Department of Natural Resources biologists begin a limited, by-permit-only antlerless deer season, establishing a template for what would become the agency's whitetail management strategy.

1979 - Four counties in Southern West Virginia (Logan, McDowell, Mingo and Wyoming) closed to firearm hunting.

212 1/8 - The Pope and Young Club score of the 13-point "Twin Falls Buck," killed in Wyoming County in 1986 by Saulsville bowhunter Jerry Hill. That buck still ranks as the state's all-time record bow-killed non-typical.

1988 - The first year license agents are allowed to sell unlimited numbers of antlerless-deer permits. Unlimited permits were available only in Hampshire, Hardy, Pendleton and Mineral counties.

1992 - The state's Natural Resources Commission authorizes unlimited antlerless-deer permit sales to residents in all counties open to antlerless hunting.

205,924 - The total deer kill in 1992. This marks the first time the harvest topped the 200,000 mark.

Numbers and statistics are almost as important to deer hunters as they are to baseball fans.

Following is a "by-the-numbers" look at whitetail hunting in West Virginia.

1,000 - West Virginia's estimated statewide deer population in 1910, when whitetail numbers reached their lowest ebb.

1 million - The state's estimated deer population when numbers peaked in 2002.

1924 - The first year of a three-year moratorium on deer hunting. Conservation officials imposed the moratorium to allow depleted herds to recover.

21,951 - The number of deer killed during the infamous "Tucker Buck Wars," when Legislature-imposed hunter's-choice regulations caused hunters to descend on Grant and Tucker counties where populations were highest.

6,187 - The statewide deer kill six years after the Tucker Buck Wars depleted the population.

1973 - Department of Natural Resources biologists begin a limited, by-permit-only antlerless deer season, establishing a template for what would become the agency's whitetail management strategy.

1979 - Four counties in Southern West Virginia (Logan, McDowell, Mingo and Wyoming) closed to firearm hunting.

212 1/8 - The Pope and Young Club score of the 13-point "Twin Falls Buck," killed in Wyoming County in 1986 by Saulsville bowhunter Jerry Hill. That buck still ranks as the state's all-time record bow-killed non-typical.

1988 - The first year license agents are allowed to sell unlimited numbers of antlerless-deer permits. Unlimited permits were available only in Hampshire, Hardy, Pendleton and Mineral counties.

1992 - The state's Natural Resources Commission authorizes unlimited antlerless-deer permit sales to residents in all counties open to antlerless hunting.

205,924 - The total deer kill in 1992. This marks the first time the harvest topped the 200,000 mark.

185 4/8 - The Boone & Crockett Club score of the state's top gun-killed typical buck, a 10-pointer taken in Nicholas County by Junior Bailes of Nettie in 1994.

1995 - The year when Mingo County bowhunter Mark Lester set the record for bow-killed typical deer with a Logan County 10-pointer that scored 175 6/8 P&Y.

102,997 - The number of antlered bucks killed during the 1997 buck season, the first time the buck total ever exceeded 100,000. In no season since have so many bucks been killed.

2315/8 - The Boone & Crockett Club score of the 32-point buck killed in Wayne County by Kermit resident Ivan McLaughlin. That buck, killed in 1997, still ranks as the state's all-time record gun-killed non-typical.

255,356 - West Virginia's all-time highest deer harvest total, established in 2002.

104,199 - The all-time record for the antlerless-season kill, also set in 2002.

37,144 - The all-time best bow kill, likewise set in 2002.

17,458 - The best-ever muzzleloader kill, set in - you guessed it - 2002.

51 - The number of counties open to 22 days of antlerless-deer hunting in 2003. Wildlife officials greatly liberalize antlerless-deer regulations in an effort to reduce the state's whitetail population.

25 - The number of counties open to 21 days of antlerless-deer hunting in 2005. Wildlife officials impose more conservative antlerless-deer regulations in order to restore deer populations in over-harvested counties.

2009 - Six-day September bow and muzzleloader hunts are held for the first time.

Reach John McCoy at johnmc...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1231.