Lehigh Valley Outdoors
  • Home
  • Hunting
  • Fishing
  • Boating
  • Archery
  • Sports Vehicles
  • Golf
  • Shooting Sports
  • Other
  • Home
  • Hunting
  • Fishing
  • Boating
  • Archery
  • Sports Vehicles
  • Golf
  • Shooting Sports
  • Other

Lehigh valley outdoors

By Nick Hromiak

Pennsylvania's firearms deer hunting opener may see the another high buck harvest

11/18/2017

0 Comments

 
PictureWhen the firearms deer season opens, older big bucks like this will seek heavy, thick cover. Photo by author

​The traditional after Thanksgiving firearms deer hunting season opener (Monday, Nov. 27) has, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC), the largest turnout of hunters who harvest about a quarter of the season’s bucks. But the agency says this season has the potential of seeing a buck harvest increase for the third straight year. 
The reasoning behind this, says PGC Executive Director Bryan Burhans, is due to last year’s massive acorn crop and mild winter that paved the way for big bucks to get bigger and for more young bucks grow into legal racks. 
Said Burhans, “There’s no doubt something special is happening. For the past few months, hunters have been sending us trail-cam photos of amazing bucks, maybe even new state records. Our field officers are seeing plenty of bucks from farm country to the big woods. Some are real wall-hangers.” 
The PGC says that larger racked older bucks are making up more of the deer harvest with each passing year. Last year, 149,460 bucks were taken, making it the second largest buck harvest in Pennsylvania since antler restrictions were started in 2002. 
Chris Rosenberry, PGC deer biologist, says that in 2016, 56 percent of the antlered buck harvest was made up of bucks 2 1/2 years old and older, with the rest being 1 1/2 years old. 
Rosenberry goes on to say, “Older, bigger-racked bucks are more of the norm in the forests of Pennsylvania than they have been for at least a couple decades. There’s no doubt antler  restrictions paved the way. It was a big step forward 15 years ago, and today we’re seeing the results for protecting young bucks.” 
That statement on antler restrictions drew a lot of flack from sportsmen back then when Gary Alt, former famed bear biologist turned deer manager, proposed the restrictions. In retrospect, it appears Alt did the right thing. 
As for the conditions, Dave Gustafson, PGC Forestry Division chief, said there were regional bumper crops of red oak acorns last year, the deer’s favorite food. But despite cyclical years, field officers are seeing decent red-oak acorn crops this year too. And areas that didn’t see red-oak acorns last year, have a better-than-average crop this year. He surmises that hunters who find acorns beneath white and chestnut oaks are likely to find other oak trees that are producing acorns in numbers. 
“Hunters seeking deer feeding areas need to look for beechnuts, Crabapples and other soft mast. Deer make a mess when they eat, so hunters should look for raked-up leaves, droppings and partially eaten mast,” Gustafson suggests.  
Added to this, and because of the warm fall we experienced, the rut may still be on for at least the first week of the season.   According to Bob Danenhower, of Bob’s Taxidermy in Orefield, when the weather is warm like we had during the archery season, doe (antlerless deer) may not go into heat as quickly. So if the rut continues, it should make for an interesting start to the firearms deer hunting season. 
PGC PHOTO CONTEST
The PGC is sponsoring their first Beyond the Hunt Photo Contest, that offers hunters an opportunity to win a generous price package. 
But unlike the typical grin-with-deer photo, this contest encourages a photo of the landscape or wildlife surrounding your favorite hunting spot, the person sitting bedside you in the stand, the meal you share after a successful hunt or any other special moment of your Pennsylvania hunting experience. 
To enter, submit a photo showing an aspect of hunting other than the harvest and provide a short explanation about why it’s meaningful to you. Hunters may enter multiple submissions to pgc.contest@pa.gov using “BTH” in the subject line. 
There’s also the Buck Harvest Photo Contest that does allow  including your trophy buck taken in Pennsylvania during the archery and firearms seasons. Again, multiple entries may be submitted but they must be sent in by Dec. 17 to the above PGC email address. These winners will receive trail cameras. 




0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Nick Hromiak has been an outdoors and automotive  writer for over 30 years. He's been published in numerous national and state-wide outdoor magazines and newspapers. 

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016

    RSS Feed

      Subscribe!

    Subscribe to Newsletter
Proudly powered by Weebly