Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Opening guns signal start of firearms deer season
Deer hunters who headed afield Monday here in our neck of Penn’s Woods enjoyed excellent opening day conditions with frostcoated fields, partly cloudy skies, and dead calm. Having filled my buck tag on a very respectable Newlin Township eight-point during archery season last month, I spent the morning perched in my Chester County tree stand armed only with a camera and a thermos of coffee. Although I still had an unfilled antlerless permit still in my pocket, I planned to address that during our late archery season. Nonetheless, when the state’s regular firearms season on whitetail deer kicked off at 6:35 Monday morning, I wanted to take part in celebrating one of Pennsylvania’s most time-honored outdoors traditions, even if only as an observer.
It didn’t take long for the action to begin. The first shot of the morning rang out from a distant woodlot at 6:36 with a dozen or so shots sounding both near and far throughout that first hour. I could have easily filled my antlerless tag a few minutes after first light when two doe jogged by well within shotgun range. Then I enjoyed the antics of a young red fox as he scoured the adjacent field for a rodent breakfast for a half hour or more. A little later three more doe passed through, but none of the critters I saw cooperated for the camera. Maybe next time.
For Pennsylvania’s fraternity of deer hunters, the Monday following Thanksgiving is the most targeted date on the outdoors calendar. And there’s little doubt that the Commonwealth’s firearms deer season lured hundreds of thousands of hunters into Penn’s Woods’ fields and forests on the state’s traditional opener. Firearms season follows on the heels of the statewide six-week archery season which concluded on Nov. 11 (although archery season here in our southeastern Wildlife Management Units 5C and 5D ran clear through Nov. 25). But for deer hunters, it’s rifle season, not archery, that represents the main event when it comes to collecting a winter’s store of venison.
When all is said and done, most of Pennsylvania’s deer harvest comes from hunters participating in the firearms season. It’s been Pennsylvania’s principal tool for managing deer for more than
a century and it’s the season that draws the largest crowd -- the season for which some rural schools still close their doors on the opener to allow their students (and teachers) to hunt.
The firearms season opener is the day every deer hunter wants to be afield. It’s almost always the most exciting day of the season and therefore usually offers the greatest opportunity. About a quarter of the season’s buck harvest occurs on the opener.
And according to the folks at the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC), this year’s edition of firearms season, not just its opening day, has the potential to be something special. “Agency deer biologists believe there’s a chance we’ll see the state’s buck harvest increase for the third consecutive year,” advised PGC Executive Director Bryan Burhans. “It’s an exciting possibility that banks on last year’s massive acorn crop and a mild winter paving the way for big bucks to get bigger and for more young bucks grow into legal racks.
“There’s no doubt something special is happening,” added Burhans. “For the past few months, hunters have been sending us trail-cam photos of amazing bucks, maybe even new state records. Our field officers also are seeing plenty of bucks from farm country to the big woods. Some are real wall-hangers out there.”
Larger-racked older bucks are making up more of the deer harvest with each passing year. Last year, 149,460 bucks were taken by hunters, making it the second-largest buck harvest in Pennsylvania since antler restrictions were started in 2002. In 2016, 56 percent of the antlered buck harvest was made up of bucks 2½ years old or older, said Chris Rosenberry, who supervises the PGC’s Deer and Elk Section. The rest were 1½ years old.
“Older, bigger-racked bucks are more of the norm in the forests of Pennsylvania than they have been for at least a couple decades,” Rosenberry said. “There’s no doubt antler restrictions paved the way. It was a big step forward 15 years ago, and today we’re seeing the results for protecting young bucks.”
Every year, Pennsylvania hunters are taking oncein-a-lifetime bucks. Some are “book bucks,” antlered deer that make the Pennsylvania Big Game Records book or Boone & Crockett Club rankings. Others simply win neighborhood bragging rights.
“A buck that eludes hunters for years and years on a mountain or in a farming valley is just as special as the big boys that make the books,” emphasized Burhans. “The elusive ones might even be more meaningful to the hunters who pursue them because sometimes those chases go on for years, and involve hunting camps, families or groups of friends.”
The statewide general firearms season runs from Nov. 27 through Dec. 9. In most areas, hunters may take only antlered deer during the season’s first five days, with the antlerless and antlered seasons then running concurrently from the first Saturday, Dec. 2, to the season’s close. In WMU 2B and here in our southeast’s WMUs 5C and 5D, however, properly licensed hunters may take either antlered or antlerless deer at any time during the season.
Precipitation through spring and summer have fostered an exceptional supply of fall foods in Penn’s Woods. Trees held their leaves longer. Grazing grass continued to grow. Soft and hard mast crops have been remarkably plentiful. These conditions have made deer movements tough to sort out. Often, there isn’t a pattern. Deer are keying on food sources within good cover and staying there. That makes hunting more challenging, especially if you don’t scout to confirm deer are using the area you plan to hunt.
When the forest is full of food, and corn remains standing in farming areas, hunters have more work to do to find deer. In these years, like this one, it often takes considerable field time to pinpoint areas whitetails are using. This fall, there are abundant crops of acorns – types vary – and beechnuts. Crabapples and other soft mast also are plentiful. So, focus on areas that have sizable yields and see if whitetails are filling up there.
One very important regulation that applies statewide is the requirement for all hunters to wear at all times a minimum of 250 square inches of fluorescent orange material on their head, chest and back combined. An orange hat and vest will satisfy the requirement. And for safety’s sake, it’s a good idea for nonhunters who might be afield during the deer season and other hunting seasons to consider wearing orange, as well.
Hunters sharing the harvest
Each year, the generosity of Pennsylvania’s hunters results in about 200,000 meals for the state’s hungry. By donating venison through Hunters Sharing the Harvest – a program that works through a network of meat processors to channel venison donations to local food banks, soup kitchens and hungry families – hunters extend their helping hands to those in need.
And, once again this year, the Pennsylvania Game Commission and other partners are making it easy for hunters to help out. The Game Commission again donated $20,000 to the program – money that enables Hunters Sharing the Harvest to accept venison donations without charging hunters. In prior years, hunters who donated venison needed also to pay a $15 tax-deductible fee to cover deerprocessing costs.
Game Commission Executive Director Bryan Burhans said the agency is proud to partner with Hunters Sharing the Harvest, a program that exemplifies the generosity of Pennsylvania’s hunters.
“There’s no greater gift than feeding someone who is hungry, and our state’s hunters have stepped up to do that, time and again, by working through the program to generously donate meat from the deer they harvest to people in need,” Burhans said.
At a recent news conference to kick off the busiest season for venison donations, Hunters Sharing the Harvest Executive Director John Plowman thanked the Game Commission and others who have helped to make the program a success. All deer donated through Hunters Sharing the Harvest must be processed professionally by a participating butcher. For information on where to take deer to be donated, or to learn more about the program generally, visit Hunters Sharing the Harvest’s website, www.sharedeer.org.
Contact Digital First Media outdoors writer Tom Tatum at tatumt2@yahoo. com