Archery Season for Antlerless Deer Opens

The archery season for antlerless deer opens this Saturday, September 20 in Wildlife Management Units 5C, 5D and 2B. WMU 5C includes most of Northampton and Lehigh counties, along with parts of Berks, Bucks, and Chester counties.

At last word, that management unit alone accounted for 95,000 antlerless deer permits available, more than most any other across the entire state. We never sell out because of the suburban and rural areas that have so much development and low quality habitat, which leads to high density in the deer populations. We can attest to that in just our area of Moore Township. There are plenty of homes around, and in one open field just recently harvested of wheat, there were nine deer roaming and feeding – one buck and eight doe.

The statewide archery season for both antlered and antlerless deer opens two weeks after 5C, on October 4. The regular firearms season opens December 1. A statewide archery season will extend from December 26 through January 10, and in 5C through January 24.

With all the deer hunting opportunities the Pa. Game Commission gives hunters, there should be plenty of venison for the dinner table. Some of it should go to food banks through a program started 23 years ago, Hunters Sharing the Harvest. While in the past there was a fee of $15 to have the deer processed and going to a food bank or food pantry through the Second Harvest Food Bank in Allentown, the PGC came up with a $20,000 donation to HSH recently, which covers that. Hunters now have the chance to feed some needy families the protein they need by donating their deer. So, no hunter drop-off co-pay at participating processor butcher shops. In Northampton County that includes Nello’s Specialty Meats at 500 Schoeneck Ave., Nazareth. Over in Lehigh County, the processors are Hartman’s Butcher Shop at 721 Autumn Rd., New Tripoli and Lazarus Farm Market at 3605 Rural Rd., Whitehall.

At a recent news conference, HSH executive John Plowman said thev have a goal of 100,000 pounds of venison that is ground up into hamburger, which is lean, high in protein, and low in cholesterol. As an extra incentive to hunters, HSH gives donors weight estimator tapes to figure out the approximate live weight, field weight and edible meat weight based on measuring the deer’s chest. Cabela’s out in Hamburg also will be giving gift cards for prizes. So, good hunting, and feed the hungry!

Source: The Home News