Deer Hunting Season Set to Go

--WRIGHTSTOWN, Pa. --It’s the busiest day of its kind each year, with about a half million people participating to make Pennsylvania tops in the country. A Thanksgiving holiday parade? Black Friday shopping? An all-you-can-eat leftovers party?

Nope.

“Opening day of Pennsylvania’s statewide firearms deer season is not, officially, a state holiday and never has been,” said Travis Lau, spokesman, state Game Commission. “But you could be excused from thinking otherwise.”

Start of the season is the busiest single day on the hunting calendar.

Said Lau: “It causes a half million people to do whatever they can to get into the woods. What else would you expect in a state where deer hunting has such a long-standing and strong culture?”

Pennsylvania is ranked tops in the nation for hunter density, according to the National Deer Association (NDA), with 14.4 hunters per square mile in 2021, the most recent year recorded. Only three other states -- New York (12), Wisconsin (11.4) and New Jersey (10.5) – hit double digits.

Expect similar crowds this year in Bucks County and the other 66 counties in the state, said Lau.

The season starts Nov. 25, then runs Nov. 26 through Dec. 9, excluding only Sunday, Dec. 3.

“Hunters will be out in force throughout,” he said.

Game Commission Executive Director Bryan Burhans called Pennsylvania’s firearms deer season “a tradition unlike any other.”

“We’ve got lots of deer and lots of hunters pursuing them, some from camps far from home, and others in woodlots and fields near where they live,” he said. “But all share the same passion for wildlife, hunting and conservation. That’s something special.”

Bucks County hunters and others typically do well compared to their counterparts around the country.

According to NDA, Pennsylvania ranked in the top five states in 2021 for antlered buck harvest; antlered buck harvest per square mile; antlerless deer harvest; antlerless deer harvest per square mile, and antlerless deer per antlered buck.

Pennsylvania hunters in 2022-23 harvested an estimated 422,960 white-tailed deer; an estimated 164,190 bucks and 258,770 antlerless deer.

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Pennsylvania deer hunting season set to begin.Photo byMelissa ChabotonUnsplash