The firearm deer season is almost here in Pennsylvania | News, Sports, Jobs

HARRISBURG — You could call it the social event of the season, a mass wellness retreat, grand-scale volunteer work or collective reaping that puts food on the tables of participants and non-participants alike.

Or you could just call it deer season.

You’d be right on all counts. Pennsylvania’s statewide firearms deer season — which runs from Nov. 29 through Dec. 13 and includes two Sundays, Nov. 30 and Dec. 7 — will send more than half a million orange-clad hunters out to share time with family and friends, connect with nature, perform boots-on-the-ground wildlife management and secure healthy venison. No other single day on the state’s hunting calendar is as anticipated or busy.

Other than that, it’s no big deal.

“Across the nation, white-tailed deer put more hunters in the woods more often than any other species,” said Game Commission Executive Director Steve Smith. “That likely won’t surprise anyone living in Pennsylvania. Opening day of deer season here touches countless families, mine included, as well as offices, work sites and schools.

“It’s about more than recreation, though. Deer season is also conservation and compassion turned into action, as our hunters keep deer in balance with their habitat while feeding themselves and hungry neighbors. There’s truly nothing like it.”

Hunters are allowed one antlered deer per license year, plus one antlerless deer for every Wildlife Management Unit-specific antlerless license, Deer Management Assistance Program permit or Agricultural Deer Control permit.

Last year, across the 2024-25 deer seasons, hunters harvested an estimated 476,880 deer, 175,280 of them bucks and 301,600 antlerless. As always, the two-week firearms season accounted for the largest chunk of those: 283,760 deer, 86,530 of them bucks, 197,230 of them antlerless.

That led to a record 283,789 pounds of venison donated to the Hunters Sharing the Harvest program, which lets hunters donate deer – at no cost – at any one of more than 100 licensed butcher shops across 56 counties. Venison is then processed for distribution statewide through regional food banks in partnership with Feeding Pennsylvania and Hunger-Free Pennsylvania.

Last year’s donations equated to about 1.1 million servings of lean, nutritious venison for food-insecure individuals and families.

“Every year, our expectations are surpassed,” said Hunters Sharing the Harvest Executive Director Randy Ferguson. “Hunters across Pennsylvania continue to embody this notion of hunting as social service in which hunters demonstrate just how much they care about feeding families in need. These record-breaking numbers reflect not only their commitment, but also the dedication of processors, volunteers, sponsors and partners across the state.”

The potential is there again this year for another bountiful season.

The National Deer Association, an advocacy group working to ensure the future of wild deer, wildlife habitat and hunting, said in the 2025 version of its annual Deer Report that Pennsylvania once again is a standout for all things deer. It said that in 2023, the most recent year for which it has numbers, Pennsylvania ranked No. 1 in buck harvest per square mile and antlerless harvest per square mile, No. 2 in overall antlerless harvest, and No. 3 in overall buck harvest and antlerless deer taken per buck taken.

That’s no fluke. According to NDA, the state has consistently ranked in the top five, if not the top three, in every category for more than a decade now.

Some of the bucks in the harvest are particularly impressive. Once upon a time, most of the antlered deer harvested in Pennsylvania were 18 months old or younger and carrying their first set of antlers. Now, with antler-point restrictions that limit hunters to harvesting bucks with a minimum number of points, about two of every three bucks taken is 2.5 years old or older. They’re not only bigger and heavier, but sport more impressive headgear, too.

There’s no reason to think any of that’s going to change anytime soon.

“I would expect the upcoming season to be very similar to last year’s,” said David Stainbrook, the Game Commission’s Deer and Elk Section Supervisor. “It’s worth noting, though, that there will be even more antlerless licenses and hunter opportunity available.”

That extra opportunity comes in several forms.

One is the increased number of antlerless deer licenses available this season compared to last. While most of them already have been issued to hunters, those seeking an antlerless license can see where tags remain at https://huntfish.pa.gov/pa/antlerlesswmu/remainingquotas.

Another is the additional Sunday involved in this year’s regular firearms season. Last year, the season opened on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and continued the following day, on Sunday. No other Sundays were open.

This year, however, following a change in the law that lifted Pennsylvania’s broad prohibition on Sunday hunting, two Sundays – Nov. 30 and Dec. 7 – are available in the firearms deer season.

There’s no hunting in Pennsylvania state parks on Sunday, Dec. 7, but it’s permitted elsewhere, including on state game lands, state forests and private lands where hunters have permission.

Hunters should note that the firearms deer season closes on Saturday, Dec. 13, though. There is no hunting on Sunday, Dec. 14, or on any other Sundays in the 2025-26 license year, except for foxes, coyotes and crows.

A third new opportunity involves Agricultural Deer Control permits. Under the program, commonly known as “Ag Tag,” hunters can get coupons from landowners, then redeem them for antlerless deer permits good for those specific properties. In years past, the Ag Tag season ended in September. Now, it runs through the firearms deer season and all the way to April 15.

Smith hopes to see hunters use all that opportunity when and where they can to get into the woods and make memories, do what’s best for deer and wildlife habitat, and perhaps help others, too.

“We know time is often the biggest challenge hunters face when it comes to being able to go afield,” Smith said. “We know, too, that one extra day of hunting can make the difference between filling a tag or not.

“That’s why we’re trying to support their efforts by maximizing opportunity where possible. We owe our hunters a debt of gratitude for all they do to support conservation, paying to do it through their license fees, no less. It’s important work that benefits all Pennsylvanians.”