Fewer antlerless deer licenses to be allocated
The Pennsylvania Game Commission has dramatically decreased the number of antlerless deer licenses it will allocate for the 2013-14 hunting season, making 49,000 fewer available than it did last year.
The commission will have 839,000 licenses available across the state, a decrease of nearly 5.5 percent from 2012.
Wildlife Management Unit 2-A, which includes most of Washington and all of Greene counties, will see a major decrease in its allocation, dropping from 59,000 licenses in 2012 to 49,000 this year.
That 17 percent decrease is something many local hunters have wanted for years as the deer herd in Washington and Greene counties has taken a big hit from both hunting and multiple outbreaks of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD).
WMU 2-B, which includes the northeastern corner of Washington County, will have decrease of 5,000 licenses this year, dropping to 62,000.
Another change that will affect WMU 2-B this is the elimination of the extended regular firearms season in the portions of the unit not located in Allegheny County. The extended season will still be in place for Allegheny County.
The deer season for WMUs 1-A, 1B, 2-B, 3-A, 3-D, 4-A, 4-C, 5-A, 5-B, 5-C and 5-D will be Dec. 2 through 14. In WMUs 2-A, 2-C, 2-D, 2-E, 2-F, 2-G, 2-H, 3-B, 3-C, 4-B, 4-D and 4-E, the antlered-only season will be Dec. 2 through 6, with a combined season to follow Dec. 7 through 14.
Retained was the 3-up rule, which means that hunters do not have to look for brow tines on a buck. If they see tines on one side of a buck’s antlers, he is legal to shoot.
• A precision junior rifle team from the Frazier-Simplex Rifle Club recently won first place in the CMP Regional Air Rifle match at Camp Perry in Port Clinton, Ohio.
Ariana Grabowski, Nicolle Thiry, Nicholle Benedict and Morgan Duerr finished with a combined score of 4,617-251X to edge a team from Oil City by three points.
Grabowski led the way for Frazier-Simplex, finishing second overall with a 1,172-72X. Thiry finished sixth overall with an 1,166-69X. Both received medals for finishing in the top 10.
The team was in third place entering the second day of the event, 15 points behind the leaders and rallied for the victory.
By winning the regional title, Frazier-Simplex advances to the national championships in July. The event will be held in Anniston, Ala.
• The possible birth of a bald eagle chick to a nesting couple in Hays, Fayette County, this week would be the first in more than 200 years in southwestern Pennsylvania.
No sightings of the young bird have been made, but researchers noticed a change in behavior by the two adult eagles that suggest they have an eaglet.
The nest is located on a steep hillside near the Glenwood Bridge and the Monongahela River. It can be viewed from the Three Rivers Heritage Trail near the Keystone Iron and Metal scrap yard.
Outdoors Editor F. Dale Lolley can be reached at dlolley@observer-reporter.com.