Start of bowhunting season rapidly approaching
HARRISBURG – Bow-hunters are preparing for a challenging season as the Oct. 1, opening day of Pennsylvania’s six-week archery deer season creeps closer and closer. Although lingering summer-like weather has compelled many of the state’s more than 300,000 bowhunters to steer clear of the woods to scout and select hunting locations, many have used the time to hone their shooting skills on practice ranges and getting gear ready.
Game Commission Execuitve Director Vern Ross said, “The upcoming archery season will be as challenging as ever, but hunting deer with archery gear is always an added challenge. That is part of what makes the archery season so attractive.”
Ross noted that, although deer numbers are lower in many Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) compared to recent years, there still are plenty of deer to provide good hunting across Pennsylvania.
“As all hunters recognize, scouting and paying attention to wind direction are more critical now,” Ross said. “Fall food conditions vary so much from area to area. Hard and soft mast are bowing tree branches in some areas, and nonexistent in others. The same holds true for agricultural crops; dry weather has affected production in some areas, while others have substantial yields.
“Knowing where productive foraging areas are and learning the movement patterns of deer are important to becoming a consistently successful bowhunter. The bottom line on deer hunting for 2005 is that most hunters will have to work harder to take deer. For many hunters, deer will be tougher to locate and it will become increasingly difficult to pattern their movements as they shift to different feeding areas and respond to hunting pressure.”
Ross also noted that hunters will be well served if they hunt less-traveled areas of State Game Lands and State Forests, or private property.
“Areas open to public hunting with easy access often become daytime ghost-towns for deer, because disturbances continually push deer,” Ross said. “If you set-up on fresh deer sign on a trail to a feeding or bedding area in a forested area where other hunters will not interrupt your hunt, you’ve done plenty to increase your chances of success.”
Jeannine Tardiff, Game Commission deer biologist, said that bowhunters should not overlook the urban and suburban areas during the fall archery season.
“There are some excellent opportunities for those who are willing to build relationships with suburban landowners, and adapt to a suburban hunting environment,” said Tardiff. “Deer have adapted well to landscapes altered dramatically by man. Hunters also need to adapt. Deer movements in suburban environments are easier to pattern than in large wooded tracts, however access is always a challenge. The opportunities are there, for those who are able to secure permission to hunt in these areas.”
The Game Commission is expecting many hunters to find satisfying hunting opportunities afield this fall, but that doesn’t mean hunters should expect to find deer populations unchanged, or that they will necessarily find deer where they have found them in past years. Deer numbers vary from WMU to WMU, even from township to township. There are areas with sizeable deer numbers and areas with limited numbers. But deer are everywhere; they’re just not as abundant or as visible as residents have become accustomed to seeing them over the past 10 years.
Antler restrictions, implemented in 2002, have led to an increasingly higher percentage of 2.5-year and older bucks being available to hunters each year. Last year, 50 percent of bucks taken were 2.5 years old, or older. Typically, about 80 percent of the state’s overall buck harvest is taken in the concurrent rifle season. But archers still manage to take their share. But older bucks offer a more challenging hunt, since many bucks also have another year of experience behind them.
“Pennsylvania hunters have adapted tremendously well to antler restrictions, and they are doing what they were designed to do: allow bucks to reach one more year of age,” Ross said. “Reports of big bucks are common across the state. But that information shouldn’t be interpreted to mean all hunters will see bigger bucks, or that big bucks can be found everywhere.”
Field officers throughout the state have reported seeing fine bucks. In Jefferson and Clarion counties, Land Management Group Supervisor George Miller reported, “I’ve seen several large-racked bucks that made me stop in amazement.”
Potter County Wildlife Conservation Officer (WCO) Mark Fair said, “Trophy deer have been observed on public and private property throughout the county.
Northampton County WCO Brad Kreider reported, “Those deer enthusiasts spotlighting the summer months have reported seeing many large rack bucks.”
Game Commission research on bucks indicates that yearling dispersal takes place in May-June, and October through early November.
“The younger bucks you see in September may or may not be there later in the hunting season,” said Bret Wallingford, Game Commission biologist. “If you find an older buck, there is an excellent chance that he has already established his home range. However, older bucks are not as tolerant of disturbances as younger bucks, and they often follow behind the does. If the doe senses something is wrong, the older bucks often do not wait around to figure out what is wrong.
“Older bucks are normally very cautious, and flighty. But like every other deer, they have routines that they follow. Some follow schedules. Some prefer to stay in certain areas. Some are tough to predict. Getting close – even during the rut – is almost always a challenge, and that’s what makes taking a rack-buck so satisfying.”
The buck harvest by bowhunters has dropped in each of the past three years from a high of 40,753 in 2001, to 28,070 in 2004. Most of the decline likely has been caused by antler restrictions, which were implemented in 2002. The archery buck harvest in 2002 was 33,476.
Still, when comparing the 2004 archery buck harvest to the 10-year average for archery buck harvest, which is about 32,200, last year’s buck kill by bowhunters wasn’t too far off pace. The 2004 archery antlerless deer harvest, which was 34,390, actually exceeded the 10-year average (32,500). This is pretty encouraging, considering antler restrictions increased the survival of yearlings, which are this years 2-year-old bucks.
The Game Commission urges bowhunters to take only responsible shots at deer to ensure a quick, clean kill. For most, that’s a shot 20 yards or less at a deer broadside or quartering away. Bowhunters should shoot at only deer that are in their maximum effective shooting range – the furthest distance from which a hunter can consistently place arrows into a pie pan-sized target.
Archers also are reminded of regulatory changes in tackle requirements that took effect in 2002. All bows must have a peak draw weight of at least 35 pounds, and broadheads must have an outside diameter of at least 7/8th-inch with no less than two cutting edges. Cutting edges must be in the same plane throughout the length of the cutting surface.
Bowhunters may use deer calls, attractant and cover scents, mechanical broadheads, lighted sight pins (as long as they don’t cast a beam) and mechanical releases. However, it is illegal to use baits, salt blocks, liquid mineral mixes and transmitter-tracking arrows. Bowhunters may not possess a firearm while afield.
Tree-stands and climbing devices that cause damage to trees are unlawful to use or occupy unless the user has written permission from the landowner. Tree-stands – or tree steps – penetrating a tree’s cambium layer cause damage. It is unlawful to construct or occupy constructed tree-stands on State Game Lands, state forests or state parks.