Think Arizona is crowded?

[billrquimby]

PENNSYLVANIA FIREARMS HUNTERS

GEARING UP FOR SEASON OPENER

 

By Don Aines Nov. 30, 2008

 

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania’s unofficial holiday, the two-week firearms deer season, begins with Monday’s rising sun, when a group larger than the standing armies of most nations will shoulder rifles and take to the woods.

 

Between 850,000 and 900,000 men, women and children ages 12 years and older are expected to take part in the first day of the two-week firearms deer season, said Gerald Feaser, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

 

In many parts of the state, schools will be closed for the first one or two days of the season.

 

Antlerless deer licenses went on sale Aug. 4 for the three wildlife management units (WMUs) in Franklin County, and they were sold out Sept. 9. After the initial sale, hunters could apply for a second license three weeks later, when unsold licenses became available.

 

For the portions of the three WMUs in Franklin County, a total of 11,440 antlerless licenses were available, down from about 12,800 in 2007.

 

“Antlerless licenses have been reduced the last three years,” Feaser said. Statewide, 849,000 were issued this year compared to 1,039,000 in the peak year of 2002, he said.

 

The game commission has no projections on how many deer will be taken by hunters this season, but in 2007, the count was 323,070, down from 361,560 in 2006, he said.

 

The first day’s weather made a huge difference last year.

 

“The weather was horrendous the first day,” with poor visibility and torrential downpours through much of the state in 2007, Feaser said. The harvest was half of what it was on the opening day of the 2006 season, he said.

 

After that opening day deficit, hunters did not have a chance to make up the difference, Feaser said. The peak days of the season are opening day and Tuesday and the first and second Saturdays, he said.

 

The National Weather Service in State College, Pa., is forecasting Monday’s weather to be overcast with a high in the upper 30s and a 30 percent chance of precipitation. That will be followed Tuesday by partly sunny conditions and a high of 41, according to the weather service.

 

[Gr8 White Jr]

361,560 deer taken in one season?!!!

[WFGinNM]

I've hunted with some friends north of Philly during the archery rut, and there is no shortage of deer where I was. There was something like 85,000 antlerless tags, sold first come first served. $6.00 each for residents, and $26.00 each for residents.

 

--Bill

[SunDevil]

they say there are as many deer in PA that are hit and killed by autos every YEAR than there are in the whole state of AZ.

 

[billrquimby]

One of the guys I've written a book for has invited me to hunt with a crossbow on his farm near Erie in 2009. (After dropping a truck on my arm during my sheep hunt, I no longer can pull a regular bow.) I've got enough frequent flyer miles to get there on Delta's dime, so I guess I will. In Pennsylvania, crossbow hunters are allowed to hunt during the archery season, which just happens to be in the rut.

 

Bill Quimby

[WFGinNM]

That sounds like a good time Bill. I passed up going this past November so I could hunt AZ. I sure missed hunting sitting in a tree and grunting rutting bucks. But I'm thinking that I just might have to put in for AZ again next year. Get yourself a couple antlerless tags, the meat is amazing.

 

--Bill

[billrquimby]

That sounds like a good time Bill. I passed up going this past November so I could hunt AZ. I sure missed hunting sitting in a tree and grunting rutting bucks. But I'm thinking that I just might have to put in for AZ again next year. Get yourself a couple antlerless tags, the meat is amazing.

 

--Bill

 

Bringing home the meat is a problem now that the airlines are enforcing their overweight baggage charges. I am too old to climb trees. Anyway, the fellow who has invited me to hunt with him removed all of his treestands after one crashed and dropped him on another guy. He broke a leg, the other fellow now has chronic back problems, so he's built permanent ground blinds all over his place.

 

Bill Quimby

[grizzly]

I used to live there, never hunted there though. Doesnt matter how many deer they kill it will never be enough. I think the Pa deer are like lab rats, they reproduce 5 times a year.

[WFGinNM]

That sounds like a good time Bill. I passed up going this past November so I could hunt AZ. I sure missed hunting sitting in a tree and grunting rutting bucks. But I'm thinking that I just might have to put in for AZ again next year. Get yourself a couple antlerless tags, the meat is amazing.

 

--Bill

 

Bringing home the meat is a problem now that the airlines are enforcing their overweight baggage charges. I am too old to climb trees. Anyway, the fellow who has invited me to hunt with him removed all of his treestands after one crashed and dropped him on another guy. He broke a leg, the other fellow now has chronic back problems, so he's built permanent ground blinds all over his place.

 

Bill Quimby

 

I can see where flying meat could be cost prohibitive. We would cut wrap and freeze the backstraps and tenderloins, and I would put them in my insulated wheeled carry on from Cabelas. As long as I kept it under 40 lbs. the airline folks didn't ask any questions. The rest of the meat we left with our friends and they would get deer sticks, and ring balogna made and either ship it to us in an isulated box, or bring it to us when they came out here to NM elk hunting.

 

Ground blinds sound like a good way to be out of the weather and still be able to move around a bit. Probably a bit easier than freezing in a tree all day.

 

--Bill

[Ernesto C]

Man I whis they closed work for two days so we can go hunting!