Take aim at hunting season

The official 2014-15 hunting and trapping season began to take shape in Pennsylvania on Sept. 1 as geese and mourning dove season opened. As fall marches forward, there will be many more visible signs the season has arrived in earnest. The woods and meadows will turn bright orange as small game season opens in October. Later, as winter weather begins to knock on the back door, car and truck traffic will often be seen with the harvest in the truck bed or strapped on roofs, small-town diners and restaurants will be boasting pancake breakfast specials and Welcome Hunters signs. The big game seasons — bear, elk and deer — are perhaps the most popular.

However, there is an often overlooked aspect of the Pennsylvania hunting season. The hundreds of thousands of men and women hunters help to create a huge economic impact. According to some of the latest estimates from Hunting Works for Pennsylvania, the sport supports an estimated 16,000 jobs in the state and has an overall economic impact of $1.6 billion.

In general, there are approximately 1 million licensed hunters in the state, although the figures appear to have slightly declined in the past several years. But when many of those hunters are on the move, money is spent for gear, food and gasoline as thousands travel to various hunting camps and favorite hunting spots, mostly in small rural communities. Hunting Works for Pennsylvania estimates hunters add an additional $121 million dollars in state and local tax money.

Perhaps the largest and most popular hunting day and the weeks following are for whitetail deer. The deer rifle season opens on the Monday after Thanksgiving, Dec. 1, the day when the leafless woods turn fluorescent orange as hundreds of thousand attempt to get the trophy buck. In Pennsylvania, hunters need to wear 250 square inches of orange for safety when hunting, although there are some exceptions. Be sure to check the hunting game book for more details.

Archery

Deer archery season is one of those exceptions, except when it overlaps with turkey season and early muzzleloader for deer. Archery is becoming increasingly popular in Pennsylvania. According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, there were 312,945 licensed archers in the state in 2013, compared to 271,162 in 2003.

Archery for deer opens on Oct. 4.

I think there are several reasons for the growing popularity of archery hunting for deer, said Dave Wisniewski of Dave’s Archery on Station Road in North East Township. The weather in October is a lot warmer and not as harsh and cold as the rifle season. A lot of hunters are older, and they would rather be out during the better weather.

Another reason cited by Wisniewski is just as pragmatic. An archer can go and retrieve the arrow, he said. You don’t have to keep on spending money on ammo.

Increasingly more and more women are joining the archery ranks.

Here at Dave’s Archery, we are seeing many women taking up archery and joining our bow shooting leagues, and I think it’s true all over and for hunting in general, he said. Many of our archers have been shooting every week now, and the busy season for us is here.

I went archery hunting for the first time last year with my fiance, Jeff Houpt, but I was just an observer, says Katie Wike, of Greene Township. But I really enjoyed it and purchased my own bow and began practicing this year. I’m really excited about archery hunting this year and have been practicing a lot all summer.

The 4-H archery club in Saegertown, called the Hemlock Adventurers, has been practicing weekly, according to 4-H leader Carol McMann.

There is a lot of interest in archery among the 4-H students, she said. We are only a 2-year-old club, and we will begin to form a second archery club.

Avid hunters, archers or rifle hunters have been in the woods for weeks scouting for signs of deer. Many hunters are also using trail cams during the preseason.

I am seeing quite a bit of activity on my trail cams, more than last year at this time, said Blaine Blakeslee, owner of Artistic Wildlife Taxidermy on Holden Road in Union City.

I am seeing plenty of turkey, bear and deer this year. I think this will be a good hunting year. Last year was the low year, so I expect this year to be much better, according to my records. We’ll be ready.

For hunters and trappers, it’s important to check the dates of any hunting season. In some cases they are different, according the wildlife management zones. Some dates are also somewhat later because of the late Thanksgiving Day holiday.

More information, licenses, maps and news can be found on the Pennsylvania Game Commission website, www.pgc.state.pa.us.

While the economics of hunting and trapping are largely hidden from view, there’s another often overlooked aspect about the harvest that is equally if not more important: Hunters Sharing the Harvest,www.sharedeer.org.

Since 1991 in cooperation with the PGC, hunters can donate some or all of the healthy venison from a harvest to local food banks, churches and food pantries. On July 9, the PGC presented HSH with a check for $20,000 to help cover and lower the costs of processing donated venison.

2014-2015 Hunting Seasons

Goose, Sept. 1-25; Dove, Sept. 1 to Nov. 15, Nov. 22 to Nov. 29, Dec. 27 to Jan. 1;
Woodcock, Oct. 18 to Nov. 29;
Ruffed Grouse, Oct. 18 to Nov. 29, Dec. 15 to 24,Dec. 26 to Jan. 24;
Pheasant, Oct. 25 to Nov. 29, Dec. 15 to 24, Dec. 26 to Feb. 21;
Quail, Oct. 25 to Nov. 29, Dec. 15 to 24, Dec. 26 to Feb. 21;
Ducks, sea ducks, coots and mergansers — Lake Erie Zone, Oct. 27 to Jan. 3;
Turkey, Nov. 1 to 8, 27 to 29;
Black Bear, archery, Nov. 17 to 21; rifle, Nov. 22 to 26;
Deer, archery, Oct. 4 to Nov. 15, Dec. 26 to Jan. 10; rifle, Dec. 1 to 13.

By Greg Spinks, Erie Times-News
Source: www.goerie.com