Archery hunters across the state will be in their deer stands Saturday, October 3, for the first day of Pennsylvania’s statewide archery deer season.
The first part of the season will run through Friday, November 20. It will be closed on Sundays, except for Sunday, November 15. For the first time, the season will run for 7 weeks.
A statewide archery season on bear will overlap 3 weeks of the archery deer season from October 17 to November 7.
Archers in 3 urbanized areas of the state – Wildlife Management Unit 2B around Pittsburgh and WMUs 5C and 5 D in southeastern Pennsylvania – have been afield since Saturday, September 19, for an early season.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission suggests that hunters spend as much time as possible afield this fall prior to and during the hunting seasons to pattern deer movements and identify areas where fall foods are abundant. Food availability changes from year to year, and in areas where food is spotty, deer often move to find better feed. Hotspots change from one year to the next, even from early to later weeks of the season, so tracking deer activity and their keying on food sources is important to success.
Bowhunters also are reminded that the state’s new “Purple Paint Law” is in effect, allowing landowners to mark their boundaries with purple markings, instead of signs.
While hunting in October often offers pleasant days afield, the warm weather also presents challenges for successful deer hunters in assuring harvests result in high-quality venison.
Especially in warm weather, harvested deer should be field dressed quickly, then taken from the field and cooled down as soon as possible. While hanging a deer carcass in a shady area might be fine in cooler temperatures, if the air temperature is above 50 degrees, hunters should refrigerate the carcass as soon as possible.
Hunters who harvest deer within the state’s Disease Management Areas must comply with special rules aimed at slowing the spread of chronic wasting disease in Pennsylvania.
The prion that causes CWD is concentrated in high-risk deer parts including the head and backbone, and these parts may not be transported outside a DMA.
It is legal to remove meat, without the backbone, from a DMA. The skull plate with attached antlers, also may be removed if no visible brain or spinal cord material is present.
Harvested deer can be taken to a cooperating taxidermist or deer processor associated with a DMA in which they’re taken, and the processed meat and finished taxidermy mounts may be removed from the DMA when ready.
Successful hunters who intend to do their own processing and who need to transport deer meat or other low-risk parts outside a DMA may stop by one of the many disposal sites established within the DMAs. Several sites where hunters within DMAs can dispose of high-risk parts are established in public areas within DMAs.
Collection bins where hunters can drop off the heads of the deer they harvest to have their deer CWD-tested for free also will be set up at sites within the DMAs. The backbone and other deer parts may be deposited at high-risk parts dumpsters set up in some of the same locations.
An interactive map showing the location of all parts-collection sites is available on the commission’s CWD information page.
Contact Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com.