The countdown is on to the statewide opening of Pennsylvania’s archery deer season and here are several new things to know and a few other things to remember before heading to your blind or stand.
Pennsylvania’s statewide fall archery season opens October 4 and includes Sundays through November 21. In past years, archers only had one Sunday during the fall season. This year, the schedule includes all seven Sundays that fall in the middle of the season.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission has several rules and regulations regarding the types of bows, blinds and tree stands that hunters can use.
Here are a few of the regulations:
Types of bows and broadheads
Archery hunters may use long, recurve or compound bows, or crossbows. Bows must have a draw weight of at least 35 pounds; crossbows must have a minimum draw weight of 125 pounds.
Illuminated nocks that aid in tracking or locating the arrow or bolt after being launched are legal, but transmitter-tracking arrows are not.
Tree stands and blinds
Tree stands and climbing devices that cause damage to trees are unlawful to use or occupy unless the user has written permission from the landowner. Tree stands — or tree steps — penetrating a tree’s cambium layer cause damage, and it is unlawful to build or occupy tree stands that are nailed or screwed to trees on state game lands, state forests or state parks.
Portable hunting tree stands and blinds are allowed on state game lands, starting two weeks before opening day of archery season, but must be removed no later than two weeks after the close of the flintlock and late archery deer seasons in the WMU being hunted.
It’s important to practice with your broadhead tips to make sure they fly like your practice field tips.
In all cases, tree stands and blinds on state game lands also must be conspicuously marked with a durable and legible identification tag that identifies the stand’s owner. Those tags must include the hunter’s first and last name and legal home address, their nine-digit CID number, or their unique Sportsman’s Equipment ID number. Hunters can find their number in their HuntFishPA online profile or on their printed license.
Hunting on private property
It’s important to receive permission from landowners before hunting on private property. In July, the state legislature approved bills that legalize hunting, but also increased trespassing penalties.
The penalty for trespassing while hunting has increased to a second-degree summary offense, in most cases. Trespassers who refuse to leave a property when asked, if convicted, will lose their hunting privileges for three years, while those convicted of a second or subsequent offense within seven years will lose their hunting privileges for five years. Sunday hunters are required to carry written permission when hunting on private land.
Fluorescent orange not required
Archers are not required to wear fluorescent orange clothing when hunting during an archery season. However, if they choose to use archery gear in a rifle season for deer or bear, they are required to wear the minimum 250 square inches like other hunters.
Shooting hours and tracking deer after dark
Hunting is permitted one-half hour before sunrise and one-half hour after sunset. Hunters who shoot a deer close to dusk and wait until dark to track the deer are required to call the Game Commission first at 833-PGC-HUNT so dispatchers can notify the appropriate game warden that tracking is taking place.
Bowhunter safety
Hunters who hunt from a tree stand are urged to always use a fall-restraint device, preferably a full body harness. Hunters using an elevated stand should also use a pull rope to raise and lower your archery gear.
A whistle is an important tool to carry incase you become immobile in your tree stand and need to alert others.
New to archery advice
For those who are just getting into archery and those who don’t have a good mentor, the Game Commission’s YouTube page has several videos about deer hunting as well as processing your own venison.
If you don’t already have a general hunting license and archery permit, you can purchase them at any issuing agent like a county treasurer or many sports shops, or purchase them online at www.huntfish.pa.gov.
