The deer bowhunting season kicks off Sept. 21 in three local WMUs

It’s the most anticipated time of year for over 350,000 bowhunters in Pennsylvania when the bow season  kicks off Sept. 21 in Wildlife Management Units 2B, 5C and 5D and for ones surrounding Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

The season runs through Nov. 29 including two Sundays, Nov. 12 and 24. Then starts again Dec. 26-Jan. 25. The statewide archery season starts Oct. 5 and includes on Sunday, Nov. 17 before ending Nov. 22 and reopens Dec. 26. – Jan. 26-30. 

According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, bowhunters represent one of every two deer hunters in Pennsylvania overall. And no other state has more bowhunters as Pennsylvania. Plus, bowhunters take a good number of deer. In the 2023-24 seasons, bowhunters harvested an estimated 154,850 whitetails (83,370 bucks and 71,480 antlerless deer). That was, says the PGC, about 36 percent of the overall deer harvest. That matched the most recent five-year average and is in-line with what’s occurring on a larger scale. Every week of the 2023-24 archery season, contributed at least 10 percent to the overall deer harvest, with some weeks accounting for as much as 25 percent. 

The National Deer Association’s 2024 “Deer Report,” in the three seasons from 2020 to 2022, archers took, on average, about 34 percent of all deer harvested across what’s considered the Northeast region, a 13-state area stretching from Maine to Virginia.

That shows the popularity of bowhunting. In fact, one land owner down in deer rich Bucks County wanted the deer herd on her property thinned out so she allows bowhunters on her property because “she doesn’t hear it happening.” That reference was to firearm hunters, plus safety concern. So it would appear bowhunters have that advantage in gaining hunting access.
 
As to where to hunt. It seems deer are everywhere and places you don’t expect them to be. Reason being, development is driving deer from their natural haunts. This past Feb. at 2 a.m., I had a doe standing in my front yard, then watched her on my security cameras. She walked down the alley across the street from my house in the west end of Allentown. Where did that deer come from?

Other sightings are by others in populated developments. From a buddy’s’ yard in Coplay, to deer on Rte. 22 and the cloverleaf brushy area at Rte. 191. Another buddy who lives in Salisbury Township and not far from Lehigh Parkway, constantly has deer in his backyard. Even had a few walk down his Buckingham Drive road in front of his  home. Deer have also been seen grazing grass next to the Northampton Fire Company. There’s also a hefty 6-pointer on the preserved land on Springhouse Road adjacent to Rte. 22 and across the highway from Parkland School District’s Administration office. 

If you use a deer scents during the bow season, Bob’s Taxidermy on Kernsville Road in Orefield, just got freshly obtained “Yurine Luck” deer scent that he packs in plastic bottles for sale. It’s unlike the bottled scent at big box stores that could have been on the shelf for a long time, and lost its potency. 
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A final reminder from the PGC is that bowhunters may use illuminated nocks that aid in tracking or locating the arrow or bolt after being launched, but transmitter-tracking arrows are not. And don’t forget to use a fall-restraint device – preferably a full-body harness – when hunting from a tree stand. And wear it from the time you leave the ground. Every year some hunters fall from tree stands and sustain serious injuries. A few have even died from a fall. 

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