Frye: Flintlock Hunt Tough But Fun

By Bob Frye

There are different ways of keeping score in the outdoors.

Not all are good. If you get hooked up with a guy who's loud about how many more trout he has caught or pheasants he has shot, who crows about his successes and revels in your defeats, that can ruin an otherwise good time in a hurry.

But there are fun ways.

A group of flintlock hunters I spent time with back in the day used to count clicks, bangs and hits.

We'd split up, put on drives, move some deer around, then take a tally. Clicks were the times someone had pulled a trigger without getting their gun to fire, either because their powder was wet or the pan powder had fallen out or something else had gone wrong. Bangs were when the rifle fired without doing damage to the local deer population. Hits were when someone killed a deer.

It was an awful lot of fun, even if there were a lot more clicks and bangs than hits.

Some of that should have been expected. There may not be a tougher game than trying to tag a deer in the post-Christmas flintlock hunt. It started Dec. 26 and runs through Jan. 10.

Deer populations are at their lowest point of the year, the weather — always an issue when you're shooting blackpowder — is often dicey, and there are few hunters in the woods to move game.

The result is a small harvest.

That's despite a rule that, in theory, makes things easier. Hunters with a flintlock license can shoot a buck with an unused back tag, provided it has the right number of points, or a doe with a doe tag, of course. But they can shoot a doe with an unused back tag, too.

Still, according to information from Pennsylvania Game Commission spokesman Travis Lau, hunters took just 1,800 bucks and 8,000 does last flintlock season. That was up over the previous year but still represented less than 3 percent of the total deer harvest for 2012-13.

Bucks are especially tough to come by.

Wildlife management unit 2D gave up 140 antlered deer to flintlock hunters last year — and still led the state by a wide margin. Only one other unit even gave up as many as 100.

Units 1A and 2C gave up 70 each, unit 1B 50, units 2A and 2F 40 each, unit 2E 30 and units 2B and 2G each. A couple of units, including 2H, gave up as few as 10.

That's likely a bit misleading. Hunters sometimes shoot a deer with a bald head, only to find out that it's indeed a buck but one that's dropped its antlers.

Jeannine Fleegle, a biologist with the commission, said biologists every year check bucks that lost their antlers by the regular rifle season. They continue dropping them thereafter.

“Natural variation and general health (which relates to nutrition) of a buck contribute to the timing of antler drop which occurs any time from December through March,” Fleegle said.

But maybe that's another way to keep score.

Finding a buck sporting legal antlers is one thing. Getting a shot at it is another. Actually bagging it something else altogether.

The odds aren't in your favor. But what fun it will be playing the game.

Bob Frye is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at bfrye@tribweb.com or via Twitter @bobfryeoutdoors.

PA Bag Limits Official For 2014/2015

Allocation set for antlerless deer licenses, elk licenses.

The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today set hunting and trapping seasons and bag limits for the 2014-15 license year, which begins July 1.

A list of all seasons and bag limits appears at the end of this news release.

The commissioners also set the number of antlerless deer licenses to be allocated, as well as the number of elk licenses to be allocated for the coming license year.

The board voted to allocate 779,500 antlerless deer licenses statewide. Allocations by Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) are as follows, with the allocation from the previous license year appearing in parentheses: WMU 1A 47,000 (49,000); WMU 1B 30,000 (31,000); WMU 2A 46,000 (49,000); WMU 2B 60,000 (62,000); WMU 2C 38,000(43,000); WMU 2D 61,000 (61,000); WMU 2E 21,000 (22,000); WMU 2F 27,000 (29,000); WMU 2G 22,000 (28,000); WMU 2H 5,500 (6,000); WMU 3A 18,000 (23,000); WMU 3B 33,000 (39,000);WMU 3C 32,000 (35,000); WMU 3D 25,000 (32,000); WMU 4A 28,000 (28,000); WMU 4B 26,000 (24,000); WMU 4C 25,000 (27,000); WMU 4D 33,000 (35,000); WMU 4E 21,000 (26,000); WMU 5A 19,000 (19,000); WMU 5B 49,000 (50,000); WMU 5C 95,000 (103,000); and WMU 5D 18,000 (18,000).

In allocating antlerless licenses, the commissioners also voted to change the length of the firearms deer season in two WMUs. Hunters in WMU 4A – which contains portions of Huntingdon, Blair, Bedford, Fulton and Franklin counties – and WMU 4C – which contains portions of Dauphin, Lebanon, Schuylkill, Northumberland, Luzerne, Carbon, Lehigh and Berks counties – will have seven days of concurrent hunting for antlered and antlerless deer in the 2014-15 deer firearms season. In this format, only antlered deer may be taken during the first five days of the firearms season. Both antlered and antlerless deer may be taken from the first Saturday to the close of the season. 

Hunting licenses for 2014-15 go on sale in mid-June and become effective July 1. After hunters purchase a general hunting license, they may apply for antlerless deer licenses based on staggered timelines, which will be outlined in the 2014-15 Pennsylvania Hunting & Trapping Digest presented to each license buyer. The 2014-15 digest also will be available at the Game Commission’s website, www.pgc.state.pa.us in mid-June

The board on Tuesday also voted to issue 108 elk licenses (27 antlered, 81 antlerless) for the 2014 hunt.

While the licenses again will be awarded by lottery, the application process will follow an expedited schedule this year.

The drawing for the 2014 elk hunt this year will be held Aug. 16 or 17 at the Elk Country Visitor Center near Winslow Hill in Benezette Township, Elk County. That’s about a month earlier than last year’s drawing. And it means hunters who are looking to enter the drawing for the 2014 hunt need to get their applications in sooner.  Hunters may apply when 2014-15 hunting licenses go on sale and all applications are due by July 31.

Elk applications cost $10.70, and only one application may be submitted each license year.

Other modifications proposed for the 2014-15 seasons include: changes to fall turkey seasons in several Wildlife Management Units; new extended bear hunting opportunities in WMUs 2C and 4B; an expansion of the fisher trapping season to WMUs 1B, 3B and 3C; and increased possession limits for small game.

Hunters and trappers – particularly those setting vacations for this fall and winter – are advised that, once again, several seasons in the 2014-15 license year will open or run about a week later than they do in many years to accommodate calendar swings related to the timing of Thanksgiving.

Several highlights pertaining to 2014-15 seasons and bag limits follow:

SPLIT FIREARMS DEER SEASONS APPROVED

WMUs 4A and 4C shifted to split format.

The Board of Game Commissioners adopted a slate of deer seasons for 2014-15 that establishes the split, five-day antlered deer season (Dec. 1-5) and seven-day concurrent season (Dec. 6-13) in 14 Wildlife Management Units. The list includes WMUs 2A, 2C, 2D, 2E, 2F, 2G, 2H, 3B, 3C, 4A 4B, 4C, 4D and 4E. The package also retains the two-week (Dec. 1-13) concurrent, antlered and antlerless deer season in WMUs 1A, 1B, 2B, 3A, 3D, 5A, 5B, 5C and 5D.

The split format is new for WMUs 4A and 4C, and commissioners said changing the format is aimed at increasing deer numbers in those WMUs.

Hunters with Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) antlerless deer permits may use the permits on the lands for which they were issued during any established deer season, and will continue to be permitted to harvest antlerless deer from Dec. 1-13 in WMUs 2A, 2C, 2D, 2E, 2F, 2G, 2H, 3B, 3C, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D and 4E. Fees for DMAP permits are $10.70 for residents and $35.70 for nonresidents.

DMAP permits also may be transferred to Mentored Hunting Program participants.

The board retained the antler restrictions in place for adult and senior license holders since the 2011-12 seasons. It remains the “three-up” on one side, not counting a brow tine, provision for the western Wildlife Management Units of 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B and 2D, and the three points on one side in all other WMUs. Those exempt from these antler restrictions are junior license holders, disabled hunters with a permit to use a vehicle as a blind and resident active duty military on leave.

BOARD EXPANDS BEAR SEASONS

WMUs 2C, 4B to offer bear hunting opportunity during deer season.

The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today approved opening up extended bear hunting opportunities to two additional WMUs in 2014.

WMUs 2C and 4B each would be open to bear hunting for four days in deer season, beginning the first Wednesday of the 2014 statewide general deer season Dec. 3.

Game Commission staff had recommended the additions based on increases in the bear populations within those WMUs.

WMU 2C has had a slightly increasing bear population trend. Highway mortalities of bears have been slowly increasing in the area, and there’s been a noticeable increase in human-bear conflicts there.

WMU 4B also has had an increasing trend of human-bear conflicts, and several incidents in recent years involving home entry or injury to pets and people. Highway mortality of bears also has increased there, as has the bear harvest, which has increased by about 20 percent annually since 2003. 

The board retained expanded bear seasons in the state’s most urban Wildlife Management Units – WMUs 2B, 5B, 5C and 5D – and will continue to allow the harvest of black bears with a bear license during all deer seasons from September through early December in these WMUs.

The extended bear season dates for 2014 are:

- Sept. 20-Nov. 15 in WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D, for archery only;

- Oct. 4-Nov. 15 in WMU 5B, for archery only;

- Oct. 18-25 in WMUs 2B, 5B, 5C and 5D, for muzzleloaders only;

- Oct. 23-25 and Dec. 1-13 in WMUs 2B, 5B, 5C and 5D, using any legal sporting arm for juniors and seniors, disabled person permit holders to use a vehicle as a blind and resident active duty in armed services.

The statewide five-day archery bear season opens Nov. 17 and runs through Nov. 21. The four-day statewide bear season is slated to open on Saturday, Nov. 22, and then continues on Monday and runs through Wednesday, Nov. 24-26.

Extended bear seasons have been proposed as follows:

- Dec. 3-6 in WMUs 2C, 4B, 4C, 4D and 4E; and

- Dec. 1-6 in WMUs 3A, 3B, 3C and 3D.

- Dec. 1-13 in WMUs 2B, 5B, 5C and 5D.

CHANGES TO FALL TURKEY SEASONS ADOPTED

Season lengths altered in some WMUs.

The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners on Tuesday gave final approval to fall turkey seasons for 2014 and spring gobbler dates for 2015.

Decreasing populations in WMUs 3A, 3B and 3C prompted the adoption of a two-week fall turkey season in those WMUs. Previously, there had been a three-week season there.

The three-day Thanksgiving season segment will continue in WMUs 3A, 3B and 3C despite the one-week decrease in the earlier segment.

Also, 2014 marks the final year of the hen harvest rate and survival rate study. So those WMUs in the study area will continue with the season lengths implemented last year.

The board also opted to retain a three-day fall turkey season in WMU 5A, but shifted it from midweek to a Thursday-through-Saturday framework.

The fall season dates for 2014: WMU 1B, Nov. 1-8 and Nov. 27-29; WMU 2B (shotgun and bow only), Nov. 1-21, and Nov. 27-29; WMUs 1A, 2A, 2D, 2F, 2G, 2H, 3A, 3B and 3C, Nov. 1-15, and Nov. 27-29; WMUs 2C, 2E, 3D, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D and 4E, Nov. 1-21, and Nov. 27-29; and WMU 5A, Nov. 6-8. WMUs 5B, 5C and 5D will remain closed for the fall seasons.

For the 2015 spring gobbler season, which will run from May 2-30, the board continued the change in legal hunting hours to reflect the following: from May 2-16, legal shooting hours will be one-half hour before sunrise until noon timeframe; and from May 18-30, hunters may hunt all day, from one-half hour before sunrise until one-half hour after sunset.

The board adopted the one-day Spring Gobbler Youth Hunt on April 25, 2015, which will run from one-half hour before sunrise until noon. All junior license holders and Mentored Youth Hunting Program permit holders can participate in this special one-day hunt, as well as the other spring season dates.

2014-15 HUNTING SEASONS AND BAG LIMITS

 

SQUIRRELS, Red, Gray, Black and Fox (Combined): Special season for eligible junior hunters, with or without required license, and mentored youth – Oct. 11-17 (6 daily, 18 in possession limit after first day).

SQUIRRELS, Red, Gray, Black and Fox (Combined): Oct. 18-Nov. 29; Dec. 15-24 and Dec. 26-Feb. 21 (6 daily, 18 possession).

RUFFED GROUSE: Oct. 18–Nov. 29, Dec. 15-24 and Dec. 26-Jan. 24 (2 daily, 6 possession).

RABBIT (Cottontail) Special season for eligible junior hunters, with or without required license: Oct. 11-18 (4 daily, 12 possession).

RABBIT (Cottontail): Oct. 25-Nov. 29, Dec. 15-24 and Dec. 26-Feb. 21 (4 daily, 12 possession).

PHEASANT: Special season for eligible junior hunters, with or without required license – Oct. 11-18 (2 daily, 6 in possession). Male pheasants only in WMUs 2A, 2C, 4C, 4E, 5A and 5B. Male and female pheasants may be taken in all other WMUs. There is no open season for the taking of pheasants in any Wild Pheasant Recovery Areas in any WMU.

PHEASANT: Male only in WMUs 2A, 2C, 4C, 4E, 5A and 5B. Male and female may be taken in all other WMUs – – Oct. 25-Nov. 29, Dec. 15-24 and Dec. 26-Feb. 21 (2 daily, 6 in possession). There is no open season for the taking of pheasants in any Wild Pheasant Recovery Areas in any WMU.

PHEASANT: Male or Female combined in WMUs 1A, 1B, 2B, 2D, 2E, 2F, 2G, 2H, 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 4A, 4B, 4D, 5C and 5D – Oct. 25-Nov. 29, Dec. 15-24 and Dec. 26-Feb. 21 (2 daily, 6 in possession). There is no open season for the taking of pheasants in any Wild Pheasant Recovery Area in any WMU.

BOBWHITE QUAIL: Oct. 25-Nov. 29 (4 daily, 12 possession). (Closed in WMUs 4A, 4B, 5A, 5B, 5C and 5D.)

HARES (SNOWSHOE RABBITS) OR VARYING HARES: Dec. 26–Jan. 1, in all WMUs except WMUs 3B, 3C and 3D, where the season will run from Dec. 26-29 (1 daily, 3 possession).

WOODCHUCKS (GROUNDHOGS): No closed season, except on Sundays and during the regular firearms deer seasons. No limit.

PORCUPINES: Sept. 1-March 31, except during overlap with the regular firearms deer season. Daily limit of three, season limit of 10.

CROWS: July 4-April 5, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday only. No limit.

STARLINGS AND ENGLISH SPARROWS: No closed season, except during the antlered and antlerless deer season. No limit.

EURASIAN COLLARED DOVE: Season dates shall run concurrently with mourning dove season. Shall be counted as part of the aggregate daily limits for mourning dove season.

WILD TURKEY (Male or Female): WMU 1B – Nov. 1-8 and Nov. 27-29; WMU 2B (Shotgun and bow and arrow) – Nov. 1-21 and Nov. 27-29; WMUs 1A, 2A, 2D, 2F, 2G, 2H, 3A, 3B and 3C – Nov. 1-15 and Nov. 27-29; WMUs 2C, 2E, 3D, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D and 4E – Nov. 1-21 and Nov. 27-29; WMU 5A – Nov. 6-8; WMUs 5B, 5C and 5D – CLOSED TO FALL TURKEY HUNTING.

SPRING GOBBLER (Bearded bird only): Special season for eligible junior hunters, with required license, and mentored youth – April 25, 2015. Only 1 spring gobbler may be taken during this hunt.

SPRING GOBBLER (Bearded bird only): May 2-30, 2015. Daily limit 1, season limit 2. (Second spring gobbler may be only taken by persons who possess a valid special wild turkey license.) From May 2-16, legal hunting hours are one-half hour before sunrise until noon; from May 18-30, legal hunting hours are one-half hour before sunrise until one-half hour after sunset.

BLACK BEAR (Statewide) Archery: Nov. 17-21. Only 1 bear may be taken during the license year.

BLACK BEAR (Statewide): Nov. 22-26. Only 1 bear may be taken during the license year.

BLACK BEAR (WMUs 2C, 4B, 4C, 4D and 4E): Dec. 3-6. Only 1 bear may be taken during the license year.

BLACK BEAR (WMUs 2B, 5B, 5C and 5D): Dec. 1-13. Only 1 bear may be taken during the license year.

BLACK BEAR (WMUs 3A, 3B, 3C and 3D): Dec. 1-6. Only 1 bear may be taken during the license year.

BLACK BEAR (WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D) archery: Sept. 20-Nov. 15. Only 1 bear may be taken during the license year.

BLACK BEAR (WMU 5B) archery: Oct. 4-Nov. 15. Only 1 bear may be taken during the license year.

BLACK BEAR (WMUs 2B, 5B, 5C and 5D) muzzleloader: Oct. 18-25. Only 1 bear may be taken during the license year.

BLACK BEAR (WMUs 2B, 5B, 5C and 5D) special firearms: Oct. 23-25, for junior and senior license holders, disabled hunters with a permit to use a vehicle as a blind and resident active duty military.

ELK (Antlered or Antlerless): Nov. 3-8. Only one elk may be taken during the license year.

ELK, EXTENDED (Antlered and Antlerless): Nov. 10-15. Only one elk may be taken during the license year. Eligible elk license recipients who haven’t harvested an elk by Nov. 8, in designated areas.

DEER, ARCHERY (Antlerless Only) WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D: Sept. 20-Oct. 3, and Nov. 17-29. One antlerless deer with each required antlerless license.

DEER, ARCHERY (Antlered and Antlerless) WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D: Jan. 12-24. One antlered deer per hunting license year. One antlerless deer with each required antlerless license.

DEER, ARCHERY (Antlered and Antlerless) Statewide: Oct. 4-Nov. 15 and Dec. 26-Jan. 10. One antlered deer per hunting license year. One antlerless deer with each required antlerless license.

DEER (Antlered and Antlerless) WMUs 1A, 1B, 2B, 3A, 3D, 5A, 5B, 5C and 5D: Dec. 1-13. One antlered deer per hunting license year. An antlerless deer with each required antlerless license.

DEER (Antlered Only) WMUs 2A, 2C, 2D, 2E, 2F, 2G, 2H, 3B, 3C, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D and 4E: Dec. 1-5. One antlered deer per hunting license year. (Holders of valid DMAP antlerless deer permits may harvest antlerless deer on DMAP properties during this period.)

DEER (Antlered and Antlerless) WMUs 2A, 2C, 2D, 2E, 2F, 2G, 2H, 3B, 3C, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D and 4E: Dec. 6-13. One antlered deer per hunting license year. An antlerless deer with each required antlerless license.

DEER, ANTLERLESS (Statewide): Oct. 23-25. Junior and Senior License Holders, Disabled Person Permit (to use a vehicle) Holders, and Pennsylvania residents serving on active duty in

U.S. Armed Services or in the U.S. Coast Guard only, with required antlerless license. Also included are persons who have reached or will reach their 65th birthday in the year of the application for a license and hold a valid adult license, or qualify for license and fee exemptions under section 2706. One antlerless deer with each required antlerless license.

DEER, ANTLERLESS MUZZLELOADER (Statewide): Oct. 18-25. An antlerless deer with each required antlerless license.

DEER, ANTLERED OR ANTLERLESS FLINTLOCK (Statewide): Dec. 26-Jan. 10. One antlered deer per hunting license year, or one antlerless deer and an additional antlerless deer with each required antlerless license.

DEER, ANTLERED OR ANTLERLESS FLINTLOCK (WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D): Dec. 26-Jan. 24. One antlered deer per hunting license year, or one antlerless deer and an additional antlerless deer with each required antlerless license.

DEER, ANTLERLESS EXTENDED REGULAR FIREARMS: (Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties): Dec. 26-Jan. 24. An antlerless deer with each required antlerless license.

Allegheny County Late Deer Season Rule Change Sparks Debate

By John Hayes / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The note received by state Game Commission board president Robert Schlemmer was sincere and gracious:
"I want to thank you for changing the game rules surrounding the 2B extended season," it read. "My wife and I ... live in a heavily hunted area of Washington Township and this should ease the pressure a lot. Thank you for thinking of landowners."

Charged with protecting the varied and sometimes conflicting interests of hunters, landowners, businesses, wildlife and other stakeholders in Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Washington and Westmoreland counties, board president Schlemmer of Export said the April vote to change the boundaries of the antlerless deer extended firearms season in Wildlife Management Unit 2B and other urban areas was, like many of the board's decisions, "a balancing act."

Under the new rule, hunting antlerless deer with slug guns during the Dec. 26-Jan. 25 season remains legal. Portions of 2B that lie outside of Allegheny County -- including parts of Beaver, Washington, Westmoreland and Butler counties -- are closed to hunting with regular firearms during the late season. Parts of Allegheny that lie within WMU 2A -- near Clinton and Imperial -- are open for hunting with regular firearms. The regulation change does not impact the Dec. 26-Jan. 11 statewide antlered and antlerless archery hunt and its Jan. 13-25 2B extension, or the Dec. 26-Jan. 25 antlered and antlerless flintlock season in 2B. The special regulation barring the use of centerfire rifles in Allegheny County applies.

County-based boundaries, not WMUs, are to be used for the same hunting season in highly populated Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties.
"What typically happens is we have a lot of antlerless allocations in 2B, and folks have been taking them from Allegheny County into the peripheral area," said Schlemmer, who worked for three years to get the rule passed. "It's a social issue, something that's important to landowners outside of Allegheny County. This is another tool we have to work with."

But many hunters and the Game Commission's divisions of enforcement and wildlife management don't see it that way.

At a Dec. 16 commission working meeting in Harrisburg, Bureau of Wildlife Management director Cal DuBrock said the controversial rule change does not meet with the agency's wildlife management objectives and urged the board to reconsider.

"Establishment of the post-Christmas deer firearm season based on counties actually contradicts the purpose of having WMUs," he said. "I think the issue [of county boundaries versus WMU boundaries] has never closed. ... People seem to be confused about where the boundaries are. Where can I hunt? Why don't we designate special regulations areas by WMUs? We've got a dynamic system. We've got to revisit and look at these issues."
DuBrock told the board that anecdotal accounts of heavy post-Christmas hunting pressure in the peripheries of urban deer management areas including 2B are not supported by evidence.

"One of the statistics we looked at in 5C -- Chester, Montgomery and Bucks counties -- [showed] 54 percent of the WMU is where 56 percent of the harvest came from," he said. "So, we hear that people are taking these [doe] tags outside of Allegheny County and harvesting, but the statistics, the data we have on where the harvest occurs, doesn't support that."

Some hunters questioned why a rule change was needed. Couldn't landowners in 2B areas outside of Allegheny County simply post their properties during the late season?
Tom Fazi, Game Commission information and education supervisor for Southwest Pennsylvania, referred to the rule change as a "hot potato issue." He said the new law "definitely complicates things" for Wildlife Conservation Officers.

"I suspect [WCOs] are going to see this as a tool taken away from the tool box for the deer management program within those areas," he said. "How will they enforce the political boundaries, and how will this impact deer populations in those areas? It certainly presents a problem for us."

Schlemmer said the rule change was, "part of an ongoing plan for Allegheny County."
"It's a beginning," he said. "I want the hunters to be involved in this."

Late-Season PA Deer Hunters Reminded Of Regulatory Changes

Antlerless-only firearms season to open after Christmas, but only in six counties.

         

Some areas in which hunters previously were permitted to use in-line muzzleloaders and

slug guns to hunt antlerless deer in the late season will be closed to such hunting in the season that awaits. 

          In previous years, an after-Christmas firearms season for antlerless deer was held in three Wildlife Management Units (WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D) that included counties under special regulations for deer hunting.

          This year, that antlerless-only late firearms season is open only in those special-regulations counties – not in the entire WMU in which they are located.

          That means hunters taking part in the firearms season need to verify the locations they plan to hunt are within those special-regulations counties to assure compliance with the new rules.

          The antlerless-only firearms season runs from Dec. 26 to Jan. 25, and is open only in Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties.

          Other counties within the same WMUs as the above-listed counties are not open to firearms hunting. They include those parts of Beaver, Butler, Washington and Westmoreland counties found in WMU 2B; and parts of Berks, Lancaster, Lehigh and Northampton counties found in WMU 5C. Counties in WMU 5D all are special-regulations counties. 

          The counties in which special regulations apply also have unique rules regarding the sporting arms and ammunition that can be used during the firearms season. 

          All hunters taking part in this special-regulations antlerless deer season should consult Page 56 of the 2013-14 Pennsylvania Hunting & Trapping Digest for a breakdown of permitted arms and ammunition, as well as other regulations that apply during the late seasons.
          The antlerless-only late firearms season in special regulations areas runs concurrently with the late archery and flintlock muzzleloader seasons in those areas.

          Outside of special regulations areas, the late archery and flintlock muzzleloader seasons run from Dec. 26 to Jan. 11.

          Unlike the late firearms season, the late archery and flintlock muzzleloader seasons are not antlerless-only seasons. Properly licensed hunters can harvest either antlered or antlerless deer during those seasons. 

          Additionally, a hunter with an unused antlered deer tag, which is included as part of a general hunting license, may harvest an antlerless deer with a flintlock muzzleloader during the flintlock muzzleloader season. Hunters must have a valid muzzleloader license to participate in the flintlock muzzleloader season.

          Hunters must have a valid antlerless license or Deer Management Assistance Program permit to participate in the late firearms season, and the license or permit must be valid in the specific part of the special regulations area being hunted. For instance, an antlerless license issued for WMU 2B may only be used within WMU 2B. While most Allegheny County lies within WMU 2B, a hunter taking part in the late firearms season in the portion of Allegheny County that lies within WMU 2A must have either a valid antlerless license for WMU 2A, or a DMAP permit for a specific property in Allegheny County. 

          There also are different fluorescent orange requirements depending on whether a hunter is participating in the late firearms season or other late deer seasons. Only late-season firearms hunters are required to wear fluorescent orange, and they must wear at all times a minimum of 250 square inches of fluorescent orange on the head, chest and back combined, and the orange must be visible from 360 degrees. 

          Hunters participating in the late archery and flintlock muzzleloader seasons are not required to wear fluorescent orange, but within the special-regulations they are encouraged to do so, given that a firearms deer season is taking place simultaneously.

          Given the different requirements that might apply to individual hunters, it’s clear that taking time to review regulations is an important step in these late-season hunts, Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe said.

          “We’re happy to provide expanded opportunities in these areas of the state that require longer seasons to bring deer numbers closer to our population goals,” Roe said. “And as long as hunters make sure they’re up to speed on the existing regulations, I’m sure these late seasons will be a reward for many.”

Autumn Makes Hunters A More Frequent Sight In Pennsylvania

Early muzzleloader, firearms deer seasons await.

Autumn in Pennsylvania means a change of colors.

And, aside from the flaring fall foliage, that change includes the addition of hunter orange to the state’s fields and forests.

While hunting opportunities exist throughout the year in Pennsylvania, and some fall hunting seasons already are underway, the majority of seasons are entering their stretch runs toward opening day.

This weekend hosts four awaited openers – the first day of the regular squirrel hunting season, the opening day of the one-week muzzleloader season for antlerless deer, and the first day of the seasons for ruffed grouse and woodcock.

Those openers lead the way for the Oct. 26 opening day of a small-game season for pheasants and cottontail rabbits, as well as the opening days for foxes and other species. Several big-game seasons lie just beyond.

All of this means hunters will become a more common sight throughout the Commonwealth.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission reminds hunters that hunting with a firearm is not permitted within 150 yards of any occupied structure, school, farm building or playground unless prior permission is obtained from the building’s occupants or property owner. This perimeter is known as a “safety zone,” and possessing a loaded sporting arm within a safety zone is considered hunting and a violation of the law. Trapping furbearers, and chasing or disturbing wildlife also are prohibited within a safety zone, unless permission is given.

A similar law applies to hunters using bows or crossbows, but the safety-zone perimeter is smaller. Archers and hunters using crossbows must remain at least 50 yards from any occupied structure, school, farm building or playground unless they receive permission from the building occupants or property owners to hunt at closer distances.

Hunters also are reminded that the fluorescent orange requirements vary depending on the species being hunted. Illustrations depicting the requirements that apply in different seasons can be found in the 2013-14 Pennsylvania Hunting & Trapping Digest issued to hunters at the time they purchase hunting licenses. The digest also is available online at the Game Commission’s website, www.pgc.state.pa.us.

Each hunter taking part in the upcoming early muzzleloader season for antlerless deer needs to wear a minimum of 250 square inches of fluorescent orange on the head, chest and back, combined. The orange each hunter wears must be visible from all directions (360 degrees) and must be worn at all times while hunting. This requirement applies to hunters who participate simultaneously in the muzzleloader and archery deer seasons.

During the one-week early muzzleloader season, properly licensed hunters are permitted to carry both a muzzleloader and a bow or crossbow. A hunter would need both archery and muzzleloader stamps, plus a general hunting and an appropriate antlerless deer license or Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) permit.

While hunters who are taking part strictly in the archery season are required during the early muzzleloader overlap to wear 250 square inches of fluorescent orange while moving, they are permitted to remove their orange once settled into a stationary position. Archery hunters who remove orange clothing are required to post 100 square inches of orange within 15 feet of their locations, and the posted orange must be visible from all directions.

Archery hunters who are simultaneously participating in the early muzzleloader season, however, must follow the orange requirements for early muzzleloader.

To participate in the early muzzleloader season, a hunter must have a valid Pennsylvania general hunting license, a muzzleloader stamp and valid antlerless deer license or DMAP permit.

Antlerless deer licenses in Pennsylvania are valid only within the Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) they are issued. Likewise, DMAP permits are issued for certain properties and are valid only on those properties. Maps showing the locations of WMUs are available in the Hunting & Trapping Digest.

Hunters during the early season may use in-line, percussion and flintlock muzzleloaders, and sporting arms may be equipped with scopes, peep-sights and other lawful sighting devices.

The one-week early muzzleloader season includes a three-day overlap with a special firearms season for antlerless deer.

During that season, which runs from Oct. 24 to Oct. 26, junior hunters (ages 12 to 16), senior hunters (ages 65 and older), mentored youth (hunters who are younger than 12, but who obtain a permit to hunt), hunters who are on active military duty, and certain disabled hunters are able to use a variety of sporting arms to harvest antlerless deer.

Permitted sporting arms include manually operated centerfire rifles, handguns and shotguns; .44-caliber or larger muzzleloading long guns; .50-caliber or larger muzzleloading handguns; long, recurve or compound bows; and crossbows.

To take part in the special firearms season, hunters must meet participation qualifications and possess a general hunting license and valid antlerless deer license or DMAP permit. Hunters also must wear a minimum of 250 square inches of fluorescent orange at all times.

Each mentored youth hunter taking part in the special firearms season must possess a valid mentored youth permit, and the mentor who accompanies a mentored youth afield must possess a valid antlerless deer license or DMAP permit. The antlerless deer license or DMAP permit can be transferred to the mentored youth upon the mentored youth’s harvest, and each mentored youth hunter may receive only one antlerless deer license and one DMAP permit by transfer during a license year.

For a more detailed look at the regulations pertaining to these and other seasons, or to view hunting season start and end dates, as well as bag limits, visit to the Game Commission’s website.

There’s a lot of hunting in store.

“Autumn is always a special time in Pennsylvania, and an absolutely beautiful time to spend outdoors,” said Carl Roe, the Game Commission’s executive director. “And there’s no better way to spend a fair-weather fall day than by enjoying a great day of hunting.

“While little is guaranteed on any hunt, it’s always a good bet that good times await afield and are there for the taking each fall,” Roe said.





Venison care

While hunting in October often offers pleasant days afield, the warm weather also presents challenges for successful deer hunters in assuring harvests result in high-quality venison.

Especially in warm weather, harvested deer should be field dressed quickly, then taken from the field and cooled down as soon as possible. While hanging a deer carcass in a shady area might be fine in cooler temperatures, if the air temperature is above 50 degrees, hunters should refrigerate the carcass as soon as possible.

Information on warm-weather venison care, as well as instructions on deer processing and other tips, are available on the white-tailed deer page on the Game Commission’s website, www.pgc.state.pa.us.



Reporting harvests

Hunters are required to report deer harvests, and they are encouraged to do so soon after their successful hunts, so they don’t forget.

There are three ways to report harvests. Harvests can be reported online at the Game Commission’s website by clicking on the “Report a Harvest” button on the homepage. Reports also can be phoned in to 1-855-PAHUNT1 (1-855-724-8681), or mailed in using the harvest report cards that are inserted in the Pennsylvania Hunting & Trapping Digest hunters receive when they purchase a license.

Hunters who call should have their hunting license numbers handy, as well as additional information that’s required to be reported.



Mistake kills

Hunters participating in the early muzzleloader season to begin Saturday or the special firearms season to begin Oct. 24 may harvest antlerless deer only.

Any hunter in any season who, by accident or mistake, kills an illegal deer is required to deliver the carcass – entrails removed – within 24 hours to any Game Commission officer in the county where the deer was killed.

A written statement must be provided to the officer, explaining when, where and how the accident or mistake occurred. The deer must be tagged with the appropriate deer harvest tag.



Rifle deer season

As it has traditionally, the two-week firearms season for deer will open statewide on the Monday following Thanksgiving.

The statewide season this year runs from Dec. 2 to Dec. 14.

Hunters in different parts of the state are required to observe different rules regarding the number of points an antlered deer must have and when during the season hunters may harvest an antlerless deer.

Information is available at the Game Commission’s website.

Muzzleloader Hunting on the Rise Among Women Nationwide

By Shannon M. Nass, Special to the Post-Gazette


Powder, patch, ball, or it won't go off at all," said Linda Fulmer of Hamburg, Berks County.
This mantra may have coursed through the mind of frontiersman Daniel Boone each time he prepared to discharge his flintlock muzzleloader rifle hundreds of years ago. Fulmer offered it up as sound advice for a growing number of women who are participating in this age old sport.
According to the National Sporting Goods Association, female participation in muzzleloading jumped from about 300,000 in 2009 to 500,000 in 2010 -- a stunning increase of 150 percent nationwide, while hunting participation in general is in a 10-year slump.

Vickie Shaffer of New Castle fires her flintlock.

It's a trend, however, that has not been reflected in the sale of muzzleloader hunting licenses to women in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Game Commission recently reported a slight drop in those sales from 5,188 for the 2009-2010 season to 4,985 during the 2010-2011 season.
A special flintlock season is still running in Pennsylvania, with antlered and antlerless deer legal in Wildlife Management Units 2B, 5C and 5D through Saturday.


While female license sales have decreased across the state, Donald E. Blazier Jr., Region 2 coordinator for the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association, said participation hasn't.
"There are a lot more women just participating ... even in office at muzzleloading organizations," he said. "Women are good for the sport, no doubt about it."
The driving force behind this increase, he said, is men.


"Most of the guys like to get their wives into the shooting competitions and into the sport," Blazier said. "It's like if you want to go fishing more often, then you take your wife with you. Get her to like fishing and you can go fish more."


Fulmer started shooting after watching her husband participate in competitions. She now target shoots, participates in re-enactments and serves on the board of directors for the NMLRA.
Her three children have taken up the sport as well, and together the family has attended various NMLRA-sponsored events, including re-enactments and Rendezvous -- events billed as living-history camping trips.


"It was like a camping adventure," said Fulmer. "It was a family affair and with muzzleloading."
Blazier described it as a unique fraternity that is all-encompassing.
"There's camping, there's shooting, there's just sitting around a campfire and talking," he said. "It's a family-oriented sport that's more user friendly than some of the other shooting sports."
Eleanor Flora of Danville, Pa., secretary of the Pennsylvania Federation of Black Powder Shooters Inc., also entered the sport after attending competitions with her husband. Like Fulmer, she said she enjoyed the family-friendly atmosphere, which she said is a draw for a lot of women.


"They seem to like that they can bring their kids and the kids can learn to do it, also," she said.
Fulmer said the camaraderie that is present at muzzleloading events spills over into the competitions as well.
"It's like a big family. Everybody helps out. They want to pass their craft along. They want you to get better," she said. "It is not cutthroat. It's competition, but it seems to be a friendly competition."


Blazier said he has seen a noticeable increase in the number of women competing in the state shooting competitions. Among them is Vickie Shaffer of New Castle, Lawrence County, who is a member of the Pennsylvania Company of Riflemen along with Blazier, who serves as captain of the team.
Shaffer began competing in 1983 and has won numerous state and national competitions. Most recently, she won high overall experienced shooter and high pistol at the 2011 NMLRA Women's Weekend, and was named to the Top 10 for the Pennsylvania Company of Riflemen flintlock team.


Like most of the women at the competitions, Shaffer said she prefers to shoot flintlocks as opposed to in-line muzzleloaders.
"The draw for me is that it's something that not just everybody can pick up and do," she said. "It's a challenge, and it's kind of neat to be able to say you can do it."


Shaffer also hunts with a flintlock and said she enjoys the challenge that it brings, as well.
"You can't just amble into something. You need to really be ready and on guard," she said. "You have to be more cautious, more quiet, more still because [the deer are] within 50 yards of you."
Flora, her husband and four daughters have all hunted with flintlock muzzleloader rifles, and she said the challenge is just one attraction.


"One of the things we like about the black-powder hunting is there's hardly anybody out there," she said. "You have the woods to yourself and your family."
Whether it's for solitude, camaraderie, challenge or competition, more women are getting back to basics and embracing a rich part of their history.
"It's our heritage," said Fulmer.


To encourage women to participate in the sport, the NMLRA holds yearly women's weekends at which instructors are on hand and firearms are available for loan. The sixth annual National Women's Weekend will take place April 20-22 on the NMLRA's grounds in Friendship, Ind.