Pennsylvania’s firearms deer season is set to open on Saturday – but not without some lingering controversy. That’s because about half of the state’s deer hunting fraternity doesn’t approve of the Saturday opener and many look forward to opening day with some trepidation. That much revered opener for firearms hunters, once again this year, falls on the Saturday immediately following Thanksgiving (yup, this Saturday). After a lifetime legacy of celebrating the state’s opening day on the Monday following Thanksgiving, many old timers remain opposed to the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s switch to Saturday a few years ago. They regard the Monday opener as a cherished tradition, and something about the changeup to Saturday just didn’t feel right, especially for those who maintain traditional deer camps in the state’s hinterlands.
One complaint is that the Saturday opener too often conflicts with their family’s Thanksgiving customs with opening day almost immediately following turkey day. The timing also conflicts with many hunting camp traditions. One deer hunter I know complained that back in the day he and his campmates would report to deer camp on Saturday, get set up and sight in rifles on Sunday, and head out to hunt before dawn on Monday. “Now we have to leave the house right after Thanksgiving dinner to get to camp on time,” he grumbled. Other hunters here in the southeast also hunt deer in Maryland whose long established Saturday opener now falls on and conflicts with the same date as Pennsylvania’s recently revised opening day.
Of course, in making such an unpopular change there was a method to the PGC’s “madness.” Anticipating the eventual legalization of limited Sunday deer hunting, the Saturday switcheroo would create not just an opening day, but an uninterrupted opening weekend, one that is now in place with Dec. 1, the Sunday immediately following Saturdays opening day, one of three Sundays when hunting is legal in Penn’s Woods. Moving opening day from Monday to Saturday would also free up potential hunters from missing the opener due to work or school obligations. This was a change that the commissioners believed would help attract, recruit, and retain hunters, and so far it’s a gambit that appears to be working. Nonetheless, efforts are ongoing to restore Monday as opening day along with efforts to expand Sunday hunting opportunities beyond the three Sundays its limited to now.
In any case, deer season is the main reason most folks here in the Keystone State purchase a hunting license in the first place. For some, it’s the ONLY reason in order to bag a whitetail deer, preferably of the trophy buck variety. Accordingly, the most circled date on the hunter’s calendar arrives statewide this Saturday on, Nov. 30. Legal hunting hours here that day are from 6:32 a.m. until 5:06 p.m. The statewide firearms season then runs through Dec. 14 for both antlered and antlerless deer.
Meanwhile although the statewide archery season on whitetail deer ended on Nov. 22, archery season here in our southeast corner of the state (Wildlife Management Units 5C and 5D) remains open through Friday, Nov. 29, pushing it right up against the firearms opener. Late statewide seasons for both archery and flintlock hunters kick in on the day after Christmas (Dec. 26) and run through Jan. 20, 2025. These seasons are both in play here in WMUs 5C and 5D through Jan. 25 as is an extended firearms season on antlerless deer only.
I’ve been out and about here in Chester County quite a bit this archery season with my focus glued squarely on an awesome buck whose image was captured on one of my trail cameras. I’ve seen plenty of deer and passed up at least four or five legal bucks while still holding out for Mr. Big. Meanwhile I’ve shot most of those bucks, including a very tempting nine-pointer, with my cell phone camera. I’ll keep trying until opening day arrives on Saturday when I’ll swap out my archery gear for a shotgun and trade in my camouflage cover for a fluorescent orange wardrobe.
Wherever sunrise on Saturday finds you, good luck. Hunt safe, shoot straight, and always respect the rights of the property owners.
Tom Tatum is the outdoors columnist/editor for MediaNews Group. You can reach him at [email protected].
