This past Saturday was the opening of the statewide muzzleloader deer hunting season for antlerless deer that runs until Oct. 26. It also marked the statewide opening of the archery bear hunting season that runs until Nov. 9.

The muzzleloader deer season gives black powder hunters an opportunity to put some venison on the table and in the freezer before the rifle deer hunting season begins. 

But of concern to sportsmen and in particular small game hunters, is the advisory from the Pennsylvania Game Commission to make sportsmen aware and ask for their help in identifying rabbits and snowshoe hares that are found dead or appear diseased. 

The commission has alerted sportsmen to Rabbit Hemorrhagic Virus 2 (RHDV2). This disease could pose a serious threat to the state’s rabbits and hares because it can cause mass die-offs which includes 75-100 percent of local populations when it  becomes established. The agency says there is no specific treatment for RHDV2 that can remain on the landscape for months. And they go on to say that early detection of its possible presence and with the immediate removal of suspected carcasses, is the best way to stop its spread. 

The PGC is asking hunters, or anyone, who finds two or more dead rabbits or hares at the same location with an unknown cause of death, to report it by calling 1-833-PGC-WILD or by using the commissions’ online Wildlife Health Survey at https://www.pgcapps.pa.WHS.

Domestic hare or rabbit owners with questions about the disease should contact their veterinarians who can in turn report suspect animals to the PA Department of Agricultural Bureau of Animal Health at 717-772-2852 option 1. Calls can be made anytime 24/7. 

RHDV2 poses no human health risk, but multiple sick of dead hares in one place also can be an indication of tularemia or plague, though those diseases can cause serious illness in humans. So those animals should not be handled or consumed which appear sick or have died from an unknown cause. And it’s advised to keep pets away from such specimens. 

The virus has only been detected in Pennsylvania once before in a domestic facility in Uniontown, Fayette County. So far, it hasn’t been found in wild populations but there have been reports from areas out in western some states where it has developed. 

SNOWSHOE HARES

The PGC is also asking hunters to report if they see snowshoe hares while they are hunting and if they are still turning all white in winter. It’s part of the agency’s Snowshoe Cooperator Program that’s in its third year. 
The PGC is looking to get a handle on whether they spot hares that were all white and if not, what they looked like. It’s because Pennsylvania is one of the few states where brown hares have been reported in winter, and the only state where brown hares have been reported in winter, and it’s the only state where unique winter pelt patterns, such as brown eye rings and brown ears, have been detected. 
To enter the program, go to [email protected]. 

LITTLE LEHIGH CREEK RECEIVED A TROUT STOCKING

Lehigh County Fish and Game Protective Association members along with the Pa Fish & Boat Commission, float stocked approximately 900 rainbow trout in the Little Lehigh Creek between Bogarts Bridge down stream to the trestle on Martin Luther King Drive last week. Float stocking spreads out the fish over a larger area than normal stockings that stock plant trout in selected areas. 

It can be considered tradition when Pennsylvania’s  statewide ring-necked pheasant hunting season gets underway Oct. 26. This follows the Oct. 12-19 eight-day kick off of the junior pheasant hunting period when the Pennsylvania Game Commission stocked 15,000 birds on public land to give juniors a chance to sample an exciting day afield when a pheasant explodes from cover in a startling flush. It’s a guaranteed experience to convince them to maintain this tradition into their adulthood. 

All told, the agency plans to stock approximately 237,000 birds that they raise and will be stocked incrementally through early January, with most releases occurring on public land that includes primarily state game lands and other state-owned lands. 

“Pheasant releases will occur weekly from late October through late November,” said Ian Gregg from PGC’s Wildlife Operations Division. A mid-December release will bolster hunting opportunities prior to the holidays, and for the fourth year, many sites are scheduled to be stocked twice after Christmas for late season hunting. Increased production on our game farms has allowed us to make these improvements to winter pheasant hunting without impacting opportunity during the traditional autumn season,” Gregg continued. 

During the pheasant season, hunters may harvest either male or female pheasants. Both are released by the PGC at a ratio of about three males for every female. However, the PGC points out that protecting hens is an important aspect of wild pheasant management as survival of propagated pheasants is too low to support sustainable populations, even without hunting mortality. The agency also reminds hunters that there is a two-pheasant limit with a six-pheasant possession limit. Additionally, hunters are required to purchase a pheasant permit in addition to a general license. 

The PGC is to be commended for attempting to keep the pheasant hunting tradition alive. When I was a youngster my one grandfather, an uncle and me would pheasant hunt the farmland that is now the Whitehall Mall and down MacArthur Road to the farmland that was once the Lehigh Valley Cooperative Dairy land, which are now apartments. In addition, we hunted the lands around my grandfather’s house in Ironton. Those were the so-called good-old-days when pheasants were truly wild birds not farm raised, and they were elusive to flush as they would stay hunkered down until we would practically step-on them. If you had a good hunting dog, the pursuit was a bit easier. 

To seek out the lands that are stocked, go to the agency’s website (www.pgc.pa.gov) and click on “Hunt & Trap” on the upper banner, then click on “Hunting.” Then “Small Game,” then “Stockings” under “Ring-Necked Pheasants.” A table displays the number of pheasants to be released in each PGC region. 

Click on a region to see the number of male and female pheasants planned for stocking in each county for each release, as well as the range of dates for each release, and a listing of each property to be stocked. 

Click on the interactive map of pheasant stocking locations to see the more than 220 properties that are scheduled to be stocked. Click on an individual  pheasant icon to see the property name, the number of releases and number of birds released last year to get an idea of large versus small release areas. Users, says the PGC, can also zoom in to see pink highlighted areas representing areas of best pheasant hunting habitat when birds are most likely to be found. 

The statewide season runs Oct. 26-Nov. 29 including Sundays, Nov. 17 and Nov. 24; Dec. 16-24, and Dec. 26-Feb. 28. 
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In addition to the pheasant opener, rabbits are also legal game as are grouse during most of these dates. This state bird is primarily a woodland pursuit and a tough one to hunt. And they are extremely fast and startling when flushed. The Blue Mountain ridge in Berks, Lehigh and Northampton counties are the preferred spots to hunt them.