HARRISBURG - This year, those hunting the two-week firearms deer season in Columbia, Northumberland and Schuylkill counties will be playing by the same rules.
At Tuesday's meeting of the Pennsylvania Game Commission board of game commissioners to finalize seasons and bag limits for the 2014-15 hunting and trapping seasons, a proposal by Southeast Region commissioner Brian Hoover to create a split firearms season in Wildlife Management Unit 4C was adopted unanimously by the eight-member board.
This year, only antlered deer will be legal to hunt in 4C the first week of the season - from opening day, Monday, Dec. 1, through Friday, Dec. 5.
Saturday, Dec. 6, will be the first day that antlerless deer will be legal to hunt in WMU 4C, and the concurrent hunting of antlered and antlerless deer will continue the second week of the firearms season - Monday-Saturday, Dec. 8-13.
This change was made for several reasons, one of which is to create the same regulations in the WMU that have been in effect the last two years in WMU 4E.
In addition, WMU 4A will also have a split season during this year's firearms season. With the addition of WMU 4A and 4C, 14 WMUs will have a split season and nine WMUs will have a 12-day concurrent season.
WMU 4C is comprised of the majority of Schuylkill County and portions of Berks, Carbon, Columbia, Dauphin, Lebanon, Lehigh and Luzerne counties. WMU 4E is comprised of Montour and Northumberland counties and portions of Columbia, Dauphin, Lycoming, Luzerne, Schuylkill, Snyder and Union counties.
Another factor in adopting the split season is the desire to put less pressure on antlerless deer in an effort to increase the size of the herd in the two WMUs, without having an adverse effect on the increase in mature bucks that has been achieved through antler restrictions.
In addition to addressing the social aspect of sportsmen who have requested the size of herd be increased, having what amounts to a second "opening day" by opening doe hunting the first Saturday of the season has had a positive economic impact on the other WMUs with split seasons.
Local hunters who plan to hunt antlerless deer close to home should give strong consideration to applying for a permit in WMUs 4C and 4E during the first round of applications. The number of antlerless tags allocated in both WMUs has been reduced again this year.
In WMU 4C, 25,000 antlerless tags will be available, which is a reduction from last year's 27,000. In WMU 4E, 21,000 antlerless tags will be available, which is reduced from last year's 26,000.
Statewide, the 779,500 antlerless tags approved by the board is a 14-percent decrease in the number of antlerless tags recommended by PGC personnel. Overall, that is a 7-percent decrease in the number of tags that were issued last year.
Here are the 2014-15 antlerless deer license allocations by wildlife management unit with last year's allocations in parentheses: WMU 1A 47,000 (49,000); WMU 1B 30,000 (31,000); WMU 2A 46,000 (49,000); WMU 2B 60,000 (62,000); WMU 2C 38,000 (43,000); WMU 2D 61,000 (61,000); WMU 2E 21,000 (22,000); WMU 2F 27,000 (29,000); WMU 2G 22,000 (28,000); WMU 2H 5,500 (6,000); WMU 3A 18,000 (23,000); WMU 3B 33,000 (39,000); WMU 3C 32,000 (35,000); WMU 3D 25,000 (32,000); WMU 4A 28,000 (28,000); WMU 4B 26,000 (24,000); WMU 4C 25,000 (27,000); WMU 4D 33,000 (35,000); WMU 4E 21,000 (26,000); b 19,000 (19,000); WMU 5B 49,000 (50,000); WMU 5C 95,000 (103,000); WMU 5D 18,000 (18,000).