Many in our area are awake and headed out this morning not for early morning sales, but to get to their prime spots in the woods as rifle deer season opens today.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission said that last year, 435,000 deer were harvested across the state, about 175,000 were bucks. But hunters are being advised to be careful with the deer they take, as Chronic Wasting Disease is still very prevalent among deer in certain areas. In fact a few weeks ago, Pennsylvania’s Game Commission confirmed a case of CWD in a white-tailed deer in Jefferson County, two miles from an area managed for the propagation of 1400 wild elk. In response, the game commission created a sixth DMA zone and expanded DMA 3 to contain the disease before it enters the Elk population.
This marks the start of a 14-day season, and for the third time in Game Commission history, there will be hunting allowed on Sunday, giving people who have the entire weekend off a full weekend in the field. Deer Season will run through December 11th, but there will be no hunting on December 5th. Another change this year is the simultaneous taking of antlered and antlerless deer with the proper license. Last year, just 10 wildlife management units allowed the simultaneous hunting.
Click on the link below to read more from the PA Game Commission on Rifle Deer Season.
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