Highly anticipated firearm hunting season to begin
With cold weather on the horizon, the Pennsylvania Game Commission is hoping for a successful and memorable rifle season for hunters.
According to the PGC, firearm season, which begins today, draws the biggest crowd and consequently has been the state’s principal deer-management tool for more than a century.
“In many rural areas, the opener is equivalent to a holiday, and some schools still close their doors to allow their students – and teachers – to hunt,” PGC officials noted in a news release.
That stands true locally as many schools are closed today.
“Opening days have been drawing the largest crowds of hunters for a long, long time,” PGC executive director Bryan Burhans said in the report. “It’s that day when anything really can happen, when lifetime bucks are taken, when hunters are bound to see more deer than on any other day of the hunting season. It’s when every hunter wants to be tucked away in the woods waiting for a big buck to come his or her way.”
The National Weather Service is expecting rain, mainly in the morning, with temperatures falling and gusting wind. Colder temperatures and a chance of snow are forecast later in the week.
It was similar rainy weather, though, that seemed to have a negative impact on bow season, the PGC report noted.
“Unseasonably warm weather, later leaf-drop and rain made it more challenging to pattern deer movements and take whitetails throughout the statewide six-week archery season, which concluded Nov. 12,” the report stated.
Burhans added the opening day isn’t the only day hunters are likely to see some action.
“Last fall, hunters took more deer on the first Saturday than the opening day – a first in Pennsylvania deer-management history. So, if you can find the time, get afield for both days. They really are two of the best times to be deer hunting.”
The season runs from today to Dec. 8, with antlered deer being the only legal target during the season’s first five days. Antler restrictions are also applicable, though they vary in different parts of the state.
Antlerless deer can again be taken beginning Dec. 1 through the season’s close.
Hunters are reminded to wear a minimum of 250 square inches of fluorescent orange material on their head, chest and back combined, at all times. An orange hat and safety vest are required.