Nov 18, 2018 3 min read

The Pennsylvania Game Commission attributes the drastic drop in annual hunting license sales in Greene County over the last five years to the budding generation of hunters having more options to take up their time.

According to a recent audit report from the Greene County treasurer’s office, hunting license numbers dropped from 11,283 in 2013 to 9,360 in 2017.

“I think a lot of it is a time factor. Kids, the up and coming hunters, are going in a couple different directions and we aren’t getting those youth hunters like we used to,” said Brandon Bonin, wildlife conservation officer for the Pennsylvania Game Commission. “When I was a teen, we weren’t traveling for sports the way kids are now. There’s more stuff out there to capture their interest.”

He also noted how hunting is a generational sport and the lack of young hunters is causing worry among the older generation of hunters.

“There’s some concern and efforts to get kids interested in hunting again,” Bonin said and noted that the Mount Morris Sportmen Club provides a variety of programs to spark interest among youth.

Bonin said he’s had an increase in complaints from farmers about deer eating crops before harvest. Bonin also said the decline in hunting licenses has an economic effect.

“People aren’t stopping for dinner at the end of the day,” he said. “Or traveling and booking hotels overnight. They aren’t spending money as much.”

As hunting license sales declined, there’s also been a slight increase in deer-related car accidents.

Deer-related accidents in Greene County increased from 23 in 2013 to 29 in 2017, according to PennDOT’s crash database search tool.

The number of crashes for the years in between were 25 in 2014, 27 in 2015 and 30 in 2016. That totals 134 deer-related crashes over the course of five years.

Jay Ofsanik, safety press officer with the state Department of Transportation District 12 said figures recorded from 2013 to 2017 show a total of 2,112 deer-related crashes in the four-county district, comprised of Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties.

Ron Ruman, the communications director with the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, said Pennsylvania ranks No. 3 in the nation for the most deer-related vehicle crashes. State Farm Insurance has compiled data that shows the odds of crashing into a deer in Pennsylvania is 1 in 63.

“It’s not cheap either,” Ruman said, adding that figures from State Farm show a 3.9 percent increase in average costs of vehicle repairs from deer-related collisions, from $4,179 to $4,341.

However, Ruman said there is good news for motorists concerned that hitting a deer will drive up insurance costs. Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Jessica Altman said under state law, hitting a deer or another animal is a “no-fault accident” and, therefore, should be covered under comprehensive coverage and a surcharge cannot be added to their premium.

Ruman said it isn’t considered a no-fault accident if a driver swerves to miss a deer and hits something else like a mailbox or a tree.

“Take that as a warning to watch and slow down and prepare to stop,” Ofsanik said.

To report dead deer along state-maintained roads, Ruman said call 1-800-FIX ROAD and for all other roads, contact the municipalities that maintain those roads.

For more information on hunting programs offered by the Mount Morris Sportsmen Club visit its Facebook page.