CNB Hunting/Fishing Pennsylvania: Tree Stands, Blinds Left on Game Lands Must Be Tagged
Saturday, October 31, 2015
New requirement also applies to other tracts under the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s management.
If you harvest a deer, you’re required to tag it.
And if you harvest it from a tree stand that was left on state game lands or other properties controlled by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, that stand, too, must be tagged.
With hunting season underway, hunters are reminded a regulation that became effective earlier this year requires all tree stands and portable ground blinds left on lands under the Game Commission’s control be marked to identify their owners.
The regulation applies on game lands, as well as on private lands enrolled in the Hunter Access program. All of these properties can be found on the State Game Lands Mapping Center at the Game Commission’s website, www.pgc.state.pa.us.
Here is a look at how the regulation applies to hunters.
Release #079-15
STOCKING PHEASANTS FOR 100 YEARS
Tradition continues as small-game season nears opener
In 1915, the Pennsylvania Game Commission launched a new initiative, releasing 1,000 ring-necked pheasants in a handful of counties to be pursued by hunters there.
A century later, that tradition continues. At least 200,000 birds raised by the Game Commission are slated to be released statewide this year on state game lands and other properties open to public hunting.
And with the statewide small-game seasons set to kick off this weekend, hunters everywhere can share in the celebration, said Game Commission Executive Director R. Matthew Hough.
"The Game Commission’s pheasant propagation program each year provides tens of thousands of hunters with some of the best small-game hunting action to be found,” Hough said. “It’s a time honored tradition enjoyed by young and old alike, and in this 100th anniversary of pheasant stocking by the agency, there’s no better time to get out there – and few better ways to spend a pleasant autumn day.”
More than 15,200 pheasants were released ahead of the weeklong junior-only season, which ended Oct. 17, and beginning this week, there will be several consecutive weekly releases of pheasants, as well as a late-season release of hen pheasants. In all, 102,320 roosters and 74,790 hens have been allocated for release statewide ahead of and within the early small-game season, with an additional 6,620 hens allocated for release for the late season.
And thousands more pheasants are likely to be released in addition to those birds, said Robert C. Boyd, who oversees the Game Commission’s pheasant propagation program. View pheasant allocations by region.
Hunters are encouraged to report banded pheasant and learn about avian influenza.
Release #080-15
PENNSYLVANIA HUNTERS READY TO TALK TURKEY
Fall season begins Oct. 31 in most parts of state; season lengths vary by WMU.
One of Pennsylvania’s most exciting seasons will begin Oct. 31 as hunters head afield in pursuit of a most-coveted game animal – the wild turkey. Hunting season lengths vary according to Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) from closed season to three-plus weeks.
While season lengths in most WMUs remain unchanged from last year, the first season segment has been shortened from three weeks to two in WMUs 2E, 3D, 4A, 4B and 4D – to help those populations rebound from declining trends, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
The three-day Thursday-through-Saturday season remains intact in WMU 5A to provide greater opportunity for hunters whose schedules do not allow for a weekday hunt. And, as usual, fall turkey hunting remains closed in WMUs 5B, 5C and 5D in southern Pennsylvania.
“Now is the time to check the dates of when seasons open and close,” Game Commission Executive Director R. Matthew Hough said.
“As is typically the case for the fall turkey season, different season lengths apply in different units, and the seasons in a handful of WMUs have been shortened this year,” Hough said. “The changes are easy to follow, and are laid out clearly on pages 10 and 42 in the Hunting & Trapping Digest issued to all buyers of hunting and furtaker licenses.”
Hunters who didn’t participate in the fall turkey season during the last two years might be unaware of season length changes from 2013 and 2014 in some other WMUs, due to declining population trends and the results of an agency study that showed the longer the fall season, the higher the female turkey harvest.
“During the fall season, any turkey can be harvested because jakes, young males, are difficult to distinguish from females,” Game Commission wild turkey biologist Mary Jo Casalena said. “Our research shows females (both juvenile and adult) comprise a larger portion of the fall harvest than males. Our management and research also have shown that we shouldn't overharvest females, so we shorten the fall season length when turkey populations decline to allow them to rebound.”
Additional information on turkey seasons, bag limits and other regulations can be found on pages 42 and 43 of the 2015-16 Pennsylvania Hunting & Trapping Digest.
In most of the state, the fall turkey season opens Saturday, Oct. 31. The seasons are as follows: WMU 1B – Oct. 31 to Nov. 7, and Nov. 26 to 28; WMU 2B (shotgun and archery only) – Oct. 31 to Nov. 20, and Nov. 26 to 28; WMUs 1A, 2A, 2D, 2E, 2F, 2G, 2H, 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 4A, 4B and 4D – Oct. 31 to Nov. 14, and Nov. 26 to 28; WMUs 2C, 4C and 4E – Oct. 31 to Nov. 20, and Nov. 26 to 28; and WMU 5A – Nov. 5 to 7.
Read the full news release which includes a fall turkey forecast, spring turkey harvest data, leg banded turkey reminder, fluorescent orange requirements and mentored hunting information.