The Pennsylvania Game Commission board voted Saturday to keep the start of rifle deer hunting season to the Saturday before Thanksgiving.
On Jan. 15, the Game Commission announced it would be considering a proposal to move the start of the rifle deer hunting season to the Saturday prior to Thanksgiving, a move some commissioners believed would stem losses in the number of the state’s hunters.
The weekend before Thanksgiving has traditionally been the start of rifle black bear season. To accommodate an earlier deer firearms start date, rifle bear season would have had to start one week earlier, and the bear muzzleloader, archery and special firearms season would have shortened to a single weekend.
For decades, firearms deer season began the Monday after Thanksgiving. In 2019, the Game Commission moved that date to the Saturday after the holiday.
In a statement announcing the proposal earlier this month, Game Commission Executive Director Steve Smith said the change would provide more opportunities for families and young hunters to travel to hunt without interfering with the Thanksgiving holiday.
“Opening the season earlier could improve access for hunters and continues the Board’s focus on structuring seasons in ways that maximize participation,” Smith said in an announcement Jan. 15.
Since 2020, the state Game Commission has reported an annual decline in the sale of hunting licenses.
Ultimately, six game commissioners voted against the move, with three voting in favor. During Saturday’s meeting, commissioners made clear that the idea could be revisited at a later date and that their goal remains to increase hunting participation throughout the state.
During the public comment section of the meeting, many hunters expressed frustration that the proposal had been announced only nine days in advance of the vote. Some expressed displeasure that the start of firearms season had ever been moved from the Monday after Thanksgiving.
Steve Shuster, who hunts in Potter County, said the proposal to move the start of rifle season would disrupt the traditions of long-time hunters, prevent students from participating in the first day of the season and discourage out-of-state hunters from traveling to Pennsylvania.
“Opening the same Saturday as neighboring states is not a good idea,” Shuster said. “Many hunters hunt multiple states, and this change will negatively affect nonresidents who travel to Pennsylvania for the opening of rifle season.”
Shuster encouraged the Game Commission to survey hunters directly about when they would want firearm deer season to begin.
Chris Tanczos, a hunter from Perry County, said he worried the proposed new starting date would lead to conflicts between bear and deer hunters as their seasons would leave them hunting in the same areas at the same time.
“The new proposed changes have prime rut and rifle bear drives happening at the same time,” Tanczos said. “I think it’s going to prolong the conflict that we’re already seeing between the two groups.”
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‘Change may need to happen’
A common concern among hunters speaking Saturday was growing the state’s hunting participation through recruiting and mentoring young hunters.
Dan Sneath, Pennsylvania director of policy and legislative affairs for Hunter Nation, a hunting advocacy group, said hunting participation is declining across the nation.
The Game Commission and long-time hunters, Sneath said, would need to be open to change to encourage more hunters in the state.
“We can’t wait 10 years before we start looking for ways to recruit, retain and reactivate our hunters,” Sneath said. “We need to accept that change may need to happen.”
Don Carter, a member of the Washington County Farm Bureau, said Pennsylvania needs to expand its hunting community because a growing deer population presents a threat to the state’s farmers.
“The deer crop damage in our county is severe,” Carter said, describing the costs of deer eating and contaminating crops, “Not just in Washington County but across southwestern Pennsylvania.”
Carter said he was encouraged by Game Commission initiatives like the Certified Hunter Program, which connects farmers with licensed hunters to help manage deer populations on their land, but said more would have to be done to curb deer population.
“There’s still an overpopulation of deer that we must address before our farmers are going out into the fields this year.” Carter said.
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