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When it comes to hunting in Pennsylvania, no date rivals the first day of the firearms buck season, when hundreds of thousands of sportsmen take to Penn’s Woods. With the 2018 season nearly upon us, here’s what to expect when opening day arrives Nov. 26.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission reports the white-tailed deer populations are stable in most areas of the state, with the herds increasing in four of the 21 wildlife management units in recent years. Locally, wildlife conservation officers predict solid opportunities for this year’s hunt.
“This season so far has been productive for sportsmen in WMUs 3C and 5D,” said Northampton County conservation officer Brad Kreider. “Reports of healthy deer sightings are numerous and positive in this area. Quality bucks have been reported across Northampton County and surrounding areas.”
Tyler Kreider, a Lehigh County wildlife conservation officer, agreed.
“The deer were able to take advantage of all the plant growth we had this year due to the heavy rains,” Kreider said. “Hunters have been reporting seeing plenty of bucks chasing doe this rut, so things are looking good for firearms season.”
The two-week firearms season runs Nov. 26-Dec. 8 this year. Deer hunting resumes after Christmas with the statewide muzzleloader and late archery season, which takes place Dec. 26-Jan. 12. WMUs 5C and 5D offer a late archery and muzzleloader season that goes through Jan. 26, offering two additional weeks of deer hunting in those areas.
When it comes to the Keystone State, deer is king. While the number of hunters overall is down from a decade ago, more than 900,000 sportsmen annually continue to purchase hunting licenses, with the vast majority of them likely pursuing deer.
In 2016, more than 914,000 licenses were sold, a 4-percent decrease from the nearly 946,000 purchased a decade prior.
As far as overall deer harvest, few states rival Pennsylvania. In 2016, according to the Quality Deer Management Association, the Keystone State was fourth in the nation in buck harvest, trailing only Texas, Michigan and Wisconsin. That same year, the antlerless harvest was 183,794, good for third in the country. Last year, hunters took 163,750 antlered deer and 203,409 antlerless deer, for a total harvest of 367,159.
Only three of the state’s 21 WMUs offer concurrent buck and doe hunting during the two-week firearms season, which means hunters can take one buck and a doe for each antlerless deer permit they have. Those units are 5C, 5D surrounding Philadelphia and 2B surrounding Pittsburgh.
Put in place in 2002, antler restrictions were designed to help balance the deer herd and increase the number of adult bucks in the population. In most of Pennsylvania, an antlered deer must have three points on one side to be legally harvested. In the western part of the state, however, there are five WMUs in which the rule is three points to a side, not including the brow tine.
Antler restrictions have definitely had a positive impact, with many sportsmen taking the biggest bucks of their lives over the past decade. Prior to restrictions being put in place, approximately 80 percent of antlered deer harvested were 1.5-years old. Last year, 57 percent of the statewide antlered harvest consisted of bucks that were adult deer 2.5 years or older.
According to Hunting Works for Pennsylvania, hunting has an economic impact of $1.6 billion in the state. Each year, Keystone State hunters spend $986 million, with sportsmen spending an average of $1,260 each.
Since being discovered in the state in 2012, chronic wasting disease has continued to spread. Earlier this year, the disease was detected in a captive deer farm in Lancaster County, prompting the creation of the state’s newest CWD disease management area. DMA 4 comprises parts of Lancaster, Lebanon and Berks counties, encompasses 364 square miles and includes the western edge of WMU 5C.
Overall, more than 5,895 square miles are included in the state’s DMAs, with special rules applying to hunters and residents of those areas. In 2017, CWD was found in 78 free-ranging deer, a 200-percent increase over the 25 cases detected in 2016.
In a number of WMUs properly licensed hunters have an opportunity to harvest a bear if they see one thanks to extended bruin hunting seasons. In this region, WMU 5C is open to bruin harvest through Dec. 8, while neighboring WMUs such as 3D and 4C to the north also offer expanded hunting opportunities.
“For deer hunters hunting in 5C, we ask them to consider purchasing a bear license,” Brad Kreider says. “Some archery hunters have reported seeing more bear than deer in certain areas. Bear hunters help keep the population at a manageable level to balance bear/human conflict in residential areas.”
Last year, 1,083 bears were harvested during the extended seasons.