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Hunters in Pennsylvania shot estimated 12% more deer in 2022-23 seasons than year earlier

brian whipkey
·7 min read

Pennsylvania hunters had a successful year of deer hunting as they shot an estimated 12% more than in the previous hunting year.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission reported hunters killed an estimated 422,960 white-tailed deer during the 2022-23 seasons that ended in January. The buck harvest was estimated at 164,190 and the antlerless harvest at 258,770.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission reports hunters harvested 164,190 bucks and and 258,770 antlerless deer in the 2022-23 deer seasons. Here a doe walks near a trail camera March 6 in Somerset County.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission reports hunters harvested 164,190 bucks and and 258,770 antlerless deer in the 2022-23 deer seasons. Here a doe walks near a trail camera March 6 in Somerset County.

The combined total is a 12% increase over 2021-22’s estimated total, which was 376,810. The agency reports this year’s numbers are in line with recent trends. The number of bucks is 2% higher than the recent three-year average.

What is the status of the Pennsylvania deer population?

Game Commission Deer and Elk Section Supervisor David Stainbrook said in the report the three-year trend increase is noteworthy because the buck harvest is considered a good indicator of the overall deer population trend. He believes if the buck harvest is climbing, then the deer population likely is, too. If it’s dropping, the population probably mirrors that. If it’s stable, the population likely is stable as well, though if hunter numbers are declining, a stable antlered harvest trend might actually indicate an increasing population trend.

“The long-term buck harvest trend indicates Pennsylvania’s deer population is in a pretty good place right now,” Stainbrook said in a news release. “We see generally stable population trends in most of the state, near goal levels, and we are seeing more older bucks available for harvest.

“For five years running, about one of every four Pennsylvania hunters has tagged a buck, with two of every three bucks harvested being 2.5 years old or older,” he said.

When it comes to antlerless deer, 67% of those killed were adult females, while 17% were button bucks and 16% were doe fawns. Hunters filled roughly one of every four antlerless deer licenses.

All of those figures are reported as being in line with the long-term averages.

How did the Game Commission arrive at its deer harvest figures?

The agency reports the harvest estimates are based on more than 22,000 deer checked by Game Commission personnel and more than 135,000 harvest reports submitted by successful hunters. The majority of the deer (72%) were reported online, 20% were on report cards sent through the mail and 8% were reported by phone. 

Similar to past years, the regular firearms deer season accounted for the greatest part of the harvest figures. Firearms hunters took 251,520 deer, with 87,190 of those being bucks and the remaining 164,340 being antlerless.

Bowhunters accounted for a little over a third of the total deer harvest, taking 145,640 whitetails (75,770 bucks and 69,870 antlerless deer) with either bows or crossbows.

The estimated muzzleloader harvest was 25,790 (1,230 bucks, 24,560 antlerless deer).

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What were the Pa. deer harvest numbers by WMU?

Total deer harvest estimates by Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) for 2022-23 (with 2021-22 figures in parentheses) are as follows:

  • WMU 1A: 9,000 antlered (6,000), 13,800 antlerless (13,200).

  • WMU 1B: 9,100 antlered (9,300), and 15,300 antlerless (12,600).

  • WMU 2A: 8,700 antlered (6,800), and 11,000 antlerless (10,600).

  • WMU 2B: 6,600 antlered (5,200), and 15,000 antlerless (12,100).

  • WMU 2C: 10,000 antlered (9,300), and 16,600 antlerless (15,400).

  • WMU 2D: 14,000 antlered (11,500), and 23,000 antlerless (19,900).

  • WMU 2E: 6,700 antlered (5,900), and 10,600 antlerless (9,500).

  • WMU 2F: 8,800 antlered (8,900), and 11,800 antlerless (10,200).

  • WMU 2G: 6,400 antlered (6,200), and 5,100 antlerless (4,800).

  • WMU 2H: 2,200 antlered (2,500), and 1,800 antlerless (1,900).

  • WMU 3A: 5,700 antlered (5,400), and 5,600 antlerless (5,400).

  • WMU 3B: 7,300 antlered (6,700), and 8,900 antlerless (7,600).

  • WMU 3C: 8,000 antlered (7,600), and 12,000 antlerless (9,400).

  • WMU 3D: 5,500 antlered (4,700), and 7,400 antlerless (6,300).

  • WMU 4A: 3,800 antlered (4,900), and 11,100 antlerless (10,300).

  • WMU 4B: 4,800 antlered (3,500), and 8,400 antlerless (8,400).

  • WMU 4C: 6,900 antlered (5,700), and 8,200 antlerless (6,400).

  • WMU 4D: 7,900 antlered (7,200), and 12,200 antlerless (10,300).

  • WMU 4E: 8,000 antlered (7,900), and 12,400 antlerless (11,800).

  • WMU 5A: 3,100 antlered (3,100), and 7,400 antlerless (7,200).

  • WMU 5B: 10,900 antlered (7,800), and 16,300 antlerless (17,100).

  • WMU 5C: 7,200 antlered (6,600), and 16,700 antlerless (14,700).

  • WMU 5D: 2,500 antlered (2,600), and 6,700 antlerless (6,300).

  • Unknown WMU: 1,090 antlered (20), and 1,470 antlerless (90).

Deer harvest by seasons

Season-specific 2022-23 deer harvest estimates (with 2021-22 harvest estimates in parentheses) are as follows:

  • WMU 1A: archery, 4,730 antlered (3,360) and 3,810 antlerless (3,590); and muzzleloader, 70 antlered (40) and 1,390 antlerless (1,310).

  • WMU 1B: archery, 3,970 antlered (4,550) and 2,950 antlerless (2,250); and muzzleloader, 30 antlered (50) and 1,250 antlerless (950).

  • WMU 2A: archery, 3,620 antlered (3,250) and 2,060 antlerless (2,330); and muzzleloader, 80 antlered (50) and 1,240 antlerless (1,270).

  • WMU 2B: archery, 4,830 antlered (3,950) and 6,750 antlerless (5,300); and muzzleloader, 70 antlered (50) and 850 antlerless (700).

  • WMU 2C: archery, 4,410 antlered (4,420) and 3,900 antlerless (3,530); and muzzleloader, 90 antlered (80) and 1,700 antlerless (1,270).

  • WMU 2D: archery, 6,690 antlered (5,800) and 4,450 antlerless (4,010); and muzzleloader, 110 antlered (100) and 2,650 antlerless (1,890).

  • WMU 2E: archery, 2,540 antlered (2,370) and 1,900 antlerless (1,690); and muzzleloader, 60 antlered (30) and 1,100 antlerless (910).

  • WMU 2F: archery, 3,250 antlered (3,270) and 1,930 antlerless (1,350); and muzzleloader, 50 antlered (30) and 1,470 antlerless (1,050).

  • WMU 2G: archery, 2,070 antlered (1,950) and 950 antlerless (850); and muzzleloader, 30 antlered (50) and 750 antlerless (650).

  • WMU 2H: archery, 770 antlered (770) and 280 antlerless (280); and muzzleloader, 30 antlered (30) and 320 antlerless (220).

  • WMU 3A: archery, 2,070 antlered (1,980) and 1,030 antlerless (1,010); and muzzleloader, 30 antlered (20) and 670 antlerless (590).

  • WMU 3B: archery, 3,050 antlered (2,640) and 1,830 antlerless (1,430); and muzzleloader, 50 antlered (60) and 1,070 antlerless (770).

  • WMU 3C: archery, 2,870 antlered (2,770) and 2,170 antlerless (1,760); and muzzleloader, 30 antlered (30) and 1,330 antlerless (840).

  • WMU 3D: archery, 2,260 antlered (1,980) and 2,030 antlerless (1,500); and muzzleloader, 40 antlered (20) and 770 antlerless (500).

  • WMU 4A: archery, 1,170 antlered (1,340) and 1,970 antlerless (1,570); and muzzleloader, 30 antlered (60) and 1,130 antlerless (930).

  • WMU 4B: archery, 2,070 antlered (1,670) and 2,100 antlerless (2,070); and muzzleloader, 30 antlered (30) and 800 antlerless (730).

  • WMU 4C: archery, 3,450 antlered (2,870) and 2,170 antlerless (1,750); and muzzleloader, 50 antlered (30) and 830 antlerless (550).

  • WMU 4D: archery, 3,020 antlered (2,780) and 2,840 antlerless (2,300); and muzzleloader, 80 antlered (20) and 1,260 antlerless (1,000).

  • WMU 4E: archery, 3,610 antlered (3,630) and 2,800 antlerless (2,730); and muzzleloader, 90 antlered (70) and 1,100 antlerless (970).

  • WMU 5A: archery, 1,390 antlered (1,380) and 2,460 antlerless (2,200); and muzzleloader, 10 antlered (20) and 540 antlerless (600).

  • WMU 5B: archery, 6,730 antlered (5,040) and 6,600 antlerless (7,280); and muzzleloader, 70 antlered (60) and 1,400 antlerless (1,320).

  • WMU 5C: archery, 5,020 antlered (4,730) and 8,040 antlerless (6,890); and muzzleloader, 80 antlered (70) and 760 antlerless (810).

  • WMU 5D: archery, 2,080 antlered (2,800) and 4,760 antlerless (4,390); and muzzleloader, 20 antlered (120) and 140 antlerless (210).

  • Unknown WMU: archery, 100 antlered (0) and 90 antlerless (10); and muzzleloader, 0 antlered (0) and 0 antlerless (40).

Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him at bwhipkey@gannett.com and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter email on this website's homepage under your login name. Follow him on Facebook @whipkeyoutdoors ,Twitter @whipkeyoutdoors and Instagram at whipkeyoutdoors.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Deer hunting in Pennsylvania harvest totals from PA Game Commission