Deer season opens Monday

BY JOHN LUND
Times-Shamrock Writer

As the story goes, children often spend the night before Christmas with visions of sugar-plums dancing in their heads.

Many hunters often experience a similar feeling of excitement, but not for the arrival of the big man in red.

The opening day of firearm deer season kicks off Monday, Dec. 1, and thousands of Pennsylvanians are prepared for an early morning rise and the hopes of finding a prized white-tail buck.

And according to Wildlife Conservation Officer Vic Rosa, there’ll certainly be plenty of deer for the taking.

“There’s no shortage of deer,” Rosa said. “There’s been areas during archery, muzzleloader and special fire arms season that hunters had complained had a lack of deer, but other areas have complaints from the farmers saying that there’s too many deer. It really comes down to where you’re located and where the food might be.”

While the chill of winter has made its way into Susquehanna County, the snow – at least for now – has not, something that can actually have a negative effect for hunters.

“The weather doesn’t necessarily affect the animals per se, but it certainly does the people,” Rosa said. “The amount of time they spent out in the field can change if the weather is cold, windy or rainy.
Generally, hunters don’t spend a good amount of time in the field, which will have an effect on the harvest.”

The snow, however, provides hunters with an added visual while tracking their deer.

“Any time we have snow cover will aid in allowing hunters to see where deer are in the area and aids in the ability to recover any game after it’s been shot,” Rosa said. “It also aids a hunter in seeing that there may not be any deer in a certain area and that they should try a different spot. I try to reiterate to hunters that if you’ve been hunting in the same spot for years and not seeing anything, it’s important to realize that habitats and food sources change. I try to encourage them to spread their wings because Wyoming County offers a lot of area where hunters can pursue white-tail deer.”

And while the official start of firearm season begins Monday, Rosa said that successful hunters have been preparing for opening day since the summer, a tactic he recommends all hunters should use.

“The biggest tip I can offer someone is to really prepare early,” he said. “That deals with knowing the area in the summer and following movements of deer in late summer and early fall all the way up to hunting season. The successful hunter is one who has done due diligence. It’s important to scout the area and be familiar with the terrain and habitat.”

“It’s no accident that hunters are successful year after year because they do it year after year and prepare well in advance of opening day.”

This year’s statewide general firearms season runs from Dec. 1 to Dec. 13. In many parts of the state, properly licensed hunters may take either antlered or antlerless deer at any time during the season.

In other 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. 6 to the season’s close.

For a complete breakdown of regulations and WMU boundaries, consult the Game Commission’s website, www.pgc.state.pa.us.

One very important regulation that applies statewide is the requirement for each hunter to wear a minimum of 250 square inches of fluorescent orange material on his or her head, chest and back combined. An orange hat and vest will satisfy the requirement.

And for safety’s sake, nonhunters who might be afield during the deer season and other hunting seasons might also want to consider wearing orange at this time.