HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania’s statewide archery deer season began Saturday. It’s the first season in which every Sunday is open to hunting, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
That totals 12 Sundays over 79 archery hunting days, based on the commission’s dates. The season also brings new rules on chronic wasting disease, or CWD, a deadly brain disease in deer. Hunters can now move deer anywhere in the state, but the riskiest parts must go in the trash or stay where the deer was killed.
The first part of the season runs through Nov. 20. After the regular firearms season, archery hunting starts again Dec. 26 and runs through Jan. 24, 2027. Hunters may take one deer with antlers per license year. They may take one deer without antlers for each license or permit they hold.
Pennsylvania mostly banned Sunday hunting until last year. A 2019 law allowed three hunting Sundays a year, including one during archery season. Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a law in 2025 that ended the ban. The commission then added Sundays from Sept. 14 through Dec. 7 last year.
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This year, Sundays are part of every season except those for migratory birds such as ducks and geese, the commission said.
Last season, hunters in certain disease zones could not take high-risk parts, such as the head and spinal cord, out of those zones, except to an approved processor or taxidermist. That rule is gone. Now hunters everywhere in the state must put high-risk parts out with their trash pickup or leave them where the deer was killed.
“The Game Commission’s new regulations are preventative in nature,” said Andrea Korman, the commission’s CWD section supervisor. “If high-risk deer parts are disposed of in the trash stream, it eliminates the possibility they will introduce CWD to a new area, and otherwise limits the disease’s spread.”
Deer urine scents are also allowed outdoors. A 2025 state law made them legal, and the commission has dropped its own ban.
The commission reported four new CWD cases. Three were in captive herds in Butler, Warren, and Lycoming counties. The fourth was a deer killed on a road in Pringle Borough, Luzerne County.
Free CWD testing continues at head drop-off bins where the disease has been found. The commission said it is working on test kits for hunters statewide. It did not say when they will be ready.
People who aren’t hunting or fishing must now wear orange on state game lands during the fall and winter. They need an orange hat or 250 square inches of orange on the head, chest, and back. The rule applies Oct. 1 through Jan. 31, according to the 2026-27 Hunting & Trapping Digest. The commission’s announcement says Jan. 30.
“It’s hunting season here in Pennsylvania, and we have a lot to look forward to in the weeks and months ahead,” said Game Commission Executive Director Steve Smith.
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