Outdoors Deer season set to open; archers first into the woods Oct. 2

Sep. 25—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Whitetail hunters who've been champing at the bit to take to their tree stands and ground blinds need not wait much longer, as Pennsylvania's annual statewide deer season begins Saturday, Oct. 2, with archery hunters getting first crack at bucks and does for seven consecutive weeks.

And according to Indiana County state game warden Ned Kimmel, local deer herd numbers are very healthy.

"I have seen ample amounts of deer, so I don't think anyone should have any issues finding places to hunt where there are opportunities," he said.

His recent conversations with local hunters confirm that mature bucks are numerous as well.

"I've talked to countless people who said they've seen bigger bucks in their scouting efforts than they have in years past," Kimmel said, "and they really feel like it's going to be a positive year."

There's good news and bad news for deer hunters this year. The good news is that the Pennsylvania Game Commission is continuing its practice of being far more liberal with opportunities than it was in the past. As with last season, archery hunters get to hunt a week deeper into the rut, as the early season doesn't wrap up until Friday, Nov. 19, and includes Sunday, Nov. 14, as a bonus day.

Unfortunately those opportunities are due to a shrinking population of hunters.

"I think it's no surprise to anybody that the demographics of hunters has changed over the years," Kimmel said.

Coupled with youth mentoring programs, the PGC has done more marketing on social media to attract future hunters. Today's young people, Kimmel said, are involved with multiple activities such as sports that compete for their time.

"If you have less hunters, and you have less interest, you have to expand opportunities to allow more time to get out there," he said.

"Pennsylvania is historically in the top three license sales in the nation," Kimmel added. "So, with us having that many hunters, you can't always have the same fully expanded opportunities like you do in West Virginia, Maryland and Ohio. They have less hunters."

Offering too liberal bag limits or extended seasons risks wildlife numbers, he said.

"If we did expand opportunities similar to certain other states, it would just decimate the herd," Kimmel said.

Archery options

Nowadays, archery season hunters may continue to hunt a half-hour after sunset, use scoped crossbows, take more than one deer per day, may now possess up to six antlerless tags at a time and shoot a bear that may wander by during 19 days of the season, provided they have a license.

Some of the expanded opportunities, such as the expanded bear season, Kimmel said, are based less on attracting young hunters with more emphasis on population control.

"The goal was to bring the bear population down a little bit lower, so I think those expanded opportunities were distinctly biological," he said.

The primary goal behind any regulatory changes for any game animal he said, are to protect species and retain healthy populations.

The statewide early muzzleloader season, which aims to take out a portion of females before they become pregnant, continues to be offered to black powder enthusiasts within that time frame from Oct. 16 to 23.

The deer get a seven-day break during the week of Thanksgiving before the orange army fills the woods for the statewide 14-day concurrent antler/antlerless firearms season, which begins Saturday, Nov. 27, and runs through Saturday, Dec. 11. As with last year, the Sunday after Thanksgiving will be open to hunters.

The total number of antlerless tags continue to be limited by allocation, but hunters may apply for additional unsold licenses in any of the state's wildlife management units as they harvest antlerless deer and report them, until tags are no longer available.

If freezers aren't sufficiently stocked, or hunters think a local trophy is still on the hoof, they may still get out from Dec. 27 to Jan. 17, during late archery and flintlock seasons, where once again unused antlered and antlerless tags may be filled. Those who still haven't harvested a buck may use their general hunting license as an anterless tag in the late season with a flintlock provided they have obtained a muzzleloader license.

The bad news for hunters this year is, just like COVID-19, Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) has not gone away. Last year, two of three of the state's Disease Management Areas (DMAs) expanded to include a rather large swath of south-central and southwestern Pa. Over 9,000 square miles according to PGC math. In 2020, DMA 2's boundaries crept westward to Latrobe and Blairsville, north to Prince Gallitzin State Park and south to Salisbury and the Maryland border.

But thankfully, Kimmel said there haven't been any significant changes in the DMAs from last year.

"There has not been any notable expansions for this coming season," he said. "So, where it was last year is roughly the same location as it is this year."

One notable change this season is the removal of dumpsters in DMAs previously used for deer parts, such as spines.

"All hunters are being encouraged to place their waste parts in their residential garbage and just have it sent out to the landfill," said Kimmel.

Although just 1.3% of deer tested last year by the PGC were positive for CWD, hunters are warned to not take their chances in what they have labeled the Established Area (EA) in the core of DMA 2. One of seven hunter-harvested deer there tested positive. That would be most all of Bedford, large chunks of Blair and Fulton counties and sections of Franklin and Huntingdon counties.

Whether shot by a hunter, killed by a car, or poached, when a deer tests positive for CWD, a 10-mile buffer is established, and the DMA expands under the assumption that more infected animals are wandering about nearby. Kimmel encouraged hunters to check the PGC website (www.pgc.pa.gov/CWD), for updates and detailed maps that show current boundaries, processors, taxidermists and head collection sites within those DMAs.

Hunters who harvest deer in a DMA are encouraged to drop the double-bagged head (with harvest tag still attached to the ear) in a collection bin and await test results before consuming any of the meat. Antlers may be removed beforehand. Test results help biologists track the disease so deer populations can be immediately reduced in those areas, which is the only way to contain the disease.