Pennsylvania prepares for exciting new season for deer | Sports



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The next gun hunting season in Pennsylvania seems more promising than ever for the hundreds of thousands of hunters who are waiting to leave Monday after Thanksgiving.

Deer hunters have seen an increase in the harvest of corks in the last three years across the country and hunters have taken more than one million tails during the same period . Many ask, "Can it get better?

Unusually warm weather, falling leaves and rain complicated deer movement and deer movements throughout the six-week archery season that ended. November 12th. The Commonwealth orange-clad army is now waiting to hunt deer in the gun season throughout the state.

The gun season in Pennsylvania attracts the largest number of spectators and has therefore been the state's leading deer management tool for more than a century. In many rural areas, openness is equivalent to holidays and some schools still close the door to allow their students – and their teachers – to hunt.

The first game of the gun season is the day all deer hunters want to get away. It is almost always the most exciting day of the season and therefore usually offers the greatest opportunity. Last year, about 45% of this season's crop of dollars was raised in the opening game.

"The opening days have long been attracting the biggest crowds of hunters," said Pennsylvania Game Commission executive director of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. "This is the day when anything can really happen when the money is taken for life, where hunters will see more deer than any other day of the hunting season. That's when every hunter wants to be hidden in the woods, waiting for a big dollar.

"The opening of the gun season is always worth the wait," Burhans said. "But it's the first Saturday of the season. Last fall, hunters took more deer the first Saturday than the opening day – a first in the history of deer management in Pennsylvania. So if you can find the time, go for the two days. These are really two of the best times to hunt deer.

The largest and oldest males make more deer harvests each year. Last year, hunters took $ 163,750, making it the second largest harvest in Pennsylvania since the introduction of wood restrictions in 2002. This was the 10th best performance of all time.

In 2017, 57% of the wood goat harvest consisted of males aged 2 and over, said Christopher Rosenberry, who oversees the Game Commission's deer and elk section. The others were one and a half years old.

"Older and larger dollars are more of the dollar crop than they have been in at least two decades," said Rosenberry. "Hunters love dollars in Pennsylvania today compared to what many of them saw 30 years ago.

Every year, Pennsylvania hunters take huge sums. Some are "book dollars", deer with woods that make the Pennsylvania Big Game Records book or the Boone & Crockett Club standings. Others simply earn the right to brag about the neighborhood.

But it's important to remember that each deer counts when only about one-third of hunters gather haulms during the deer season.

"That's the first deer of a young hunter or a big dollar who falls from a hunter sitting in the dark, they all count for these hunters, their families and the communities in which they live, "said Burhans. "Deer hunting has been an exciting pastime in Pennsylvania for centuries, and it will surely remain the same for many generations."

Statewide Season

The firearms season throughout the country extends from November 26 to December 8. In most areas, hunters can only catch deer in the first five days of the season. The no-wood and shrub seasons are held simultaneously from the first Saturday, December 1st. at the end of the season. In FMUs 2B, 5C and 5D, however, duly authorized hunters may take deer with or without antlers at any time of the season.

The rules regarding the number of points that a dollar must have legally on a timber also vary across state regions, and young state hunters follow separate guidelines.

For a complete list of wood restrictions, FMU limits and other regulations, see the Pennsylvania Hunting & Trapping Digest 2018-19, available online at the Game Commission website, www.pgc.pa. gov.

Hunters across the state must wear at least 250 square inches of fluorescent orange fabric at all times on their head, chest and back. An orange hat and vest will meet the requirement. Non-hunters who may be away during the deer season and other hunting seasons are also advised to consider wearing orange.

Field conditions for the deer season

Spring and summer rains once again favored the exceptional supply of fall feed to Penn's Woods. Grazing was available in early November. Flexible and some hard mast harvests have been remarkably abundant.

Corn fields stayed longer this fall than usual. Trees held their leaves longer. These conditions made deer movements more difficult to resolve. Deer usually play a key role in food sources. And, in the case of cornfields, they could never leave them until the corn falls. Hunters are encouraged to confirm deer activity in the areas they plan to hunt before committing to it.

Appropriate license

Hunters during the gun season throughout the state can harvest acorn deer if they have a valid general hunting license, which costs $ 20.90 for adult residents and $ 101.90 for non-resident adults.

Each hunter aged 12 to 16 must have a junior license, which costs $ 6.90 for residents and $ 41.90 for non-residents.

Hunters under the age of 12 must have a valid hunting license for young mentees and be accompanied at all times by a duly licensed adult mentor and comply with other regulations.

Mentoring opportunities are also available for adults, but only antlerless deer can be taken by adult hunters who are mentees.

Seniors' license holders are reminded that they must obtain a new etiquette label each year, free of charge, to participate in the season.

To take an antlerless deer, a hunter must have either a valid antlerless deer license or a valid license. In the case of hunters who are mentees without their own tags, the mentor must have a valid tag that can be transferred to the mente hunter at the time of harvest.

In addition to regular woodless permits, Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) permits can be used to harvest deer without antlers. A DMAP license can be used throughout the 12-day firearms season, but only on the specific property for which it is issued.

Ordinary antlerless deer licenses can only be used in the wildlife management unit for which they were issued on Saturday, December 1 in most cases. UFMs 2B, 5C and 5D offer simultaneous hunting of antlerless deer throughout the season. .

DMAP permissions for some properties may still be available, but at the time of release, non-timber licenses were being sold in all units, with the exception of Reactor 2A and 2B.

General hunting licenses can be purchased online, but as the season approaches, hunters may find it better to buy licenses in person. Deer licenses purchased online are mailed, which means they may not arrive on time if they are purchased too close to the start of the season.

Hunters are reminded that the possession of expired licenses or tags on the ground, or that the licenses or tags of another hunter are illegal.

Chronic debilitating disease

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) was detected for the first time in Pennsylvania in 2012. To help prevent the spread of CWD, the Game Commission has created Disease Management Areas (DMAs) where specific regulations are applicable. .

There are currently three DMAs. DMA 2 includes parts of Adams County, Bedford County, Blair County, Cambria County, Clearfield County, Cumberland County, Franklin County, Fulton County, Juniata County, Perry County, Huntingdon County and Somerset County. DMA 3 includes about 350 square miles in Armstrong, Clarion, Clearfield, Indiana and Jefferson counties. And DMA 4 encompasses 346 square miles in the counties of Berks, Lancaster and Lebanon.

For the specific limitations of each DMA, see the Game Commission website.

Hunters harvesting deer in a DMZ can not export parts of their cows that are considered to be at high risk of spreading CWD from the DMZ. The head – especially the brain, eyes, tonsils and lymph nodes, spinal cord and spleen are considered high risk parts. In addition, hunters who catch deer in provinces or provinces where the deer virus is infected can not import these high-risk parts into Pennsylvania. Once the high risk parties are removed, hunters can export the remaining meat on or off the bone, clean up cloaks, clean skull plates with finished wood and taxidermix fixtures from the DMA .

Hunters can eliminate high-risk parts through their garbage collection service or dumpsters provided by the Gaming Commission. Garbage dumps locations are available on the Game Commission website.

Hunters can bring their deer harvested to any processor or taxidermist within the DMA. In some cases, processors and taxidermists who cooperate just beyond the border of a DMA can accept deer from a DMA. A list of cooperating processors and taxidermists is available on the Game Commission website.

Hunters who take deer in DMAs can have their deer tested for free for CWD, while helping the Gaming Commission fight this deadly disease.

The Gaming Commission has installed large metal bins for collection of deer heads harvested in DMA 2, DMA 3 and DMA 4. Bins, similar to those used for clothing donations, help keep content safe. and are regularly checked and emptied by the deer hunting seasons.

All deer heads brought into the white drop boxes should be legally labeled, the harvest tag clearly filled and attached to the ear of the dog and placed in an attached plastic bag. The head can be bagged before being taken to the trash, or hunters can use the bags provided in the trash.

Once tested, deer heads will not be returned to hunters. Hunters wishing to keep logs must remove them before submitting them. Hunters will be informed of the results of screening tests for the disease within six weeks. Hunters who harvest deer outside of a DMA may make arrangements with the Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostics Laboratory System if they wish their deer to be tested. Fees are associated with these tests. Further information on this process is available online at www.padls.org.

In addition to heads in bins, the Gaming Commission will bring together state-wide processor heads for MDC monitoring. However, hunters should not assume that a deer brought to a processor will be tested for CWD.

Chronic wasting disease is always fatal for deer and there is no vaccine or treatment. The disease is spread by deer contact through the environment. Although there is no known case of transmission to humans, the Gaming Commission and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that people do not consume meat from deer. whose MDC test is positive.

For more information on CWD, dumpsters and rules applicable in DMAs, visit the Game Commission website.

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