Archery deer season underway as first signs of Autumn show

Autumn is officially here, and so is the statewide archery deer season, which began Saturday. Although the rain made for questionable archery-hunting conditions, the weekend rains bring much-needed relief for the county’s many wild trout streams. As of Friday, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources lifted the fishing restrictions that had been placed on two sections of Penns Creek.

These restrictions had been in effect since Aug. 4 to protect wild trout stressed by high water temperatures and low stream flows. The trout were congregated in the cooler water at the mouths of the Panther Run and Swift Run tributaries in the Bald Eagle State Forest.

One big change from last October is the abundant mast crop across most of Centre County and much of the state. For the past two weeks, I have been listening to the sound of falling acorns. It usually begins as a tick of something solid against the canopy leaves, then the sound moves downward as the acorn drops through the lower oak branches and plops onto the forest floor.

The sound of falling acorns signifies nature’s bounty. In much, but not all, of the state, oak is king — that is, the king of producing natural wildlife food. Deer, bears, turkeys, ruffed grouse, wood ducks and squirrels all depend on acorns — the nuts of various species of oak trees — to fatten and carry them through winter. In addition to these notable game species, many other non-game species from blue jays to white-footed deer mice all depend on nutritious acorns. A rough winter lies ahead for forest dwellers when no acorns are present.

In my corner of Centre County, red and black oak trees are loaded with acorns. On State Game Lands 33, north of Port Matilda, chestnut oak branches are weighted down with plump acorns. Many scrub oaks are loaded, too. In Blair and Huntingdon counties, the forest floor is already littered with red oak and some of the smaller white oak acorns.

In addition to acorns, wild black cherries, apples, hawthorn fruits and crabapples are abundant. Beechnuts and hickory nuts appear to be sparse compared to last fall.

Archery Season

Both bucks and does are legal during the six weeks of archery season. In addition to an archery license, hunters must have an antlerless deer license or a DMAP permit for the area where they are hunting, if they wish to harvest an antlerless deer.

Antler restrictions require at least three points on one side in both wildlife management units that include Centre County — 4D and 2G. Junior license holders, mentored youth, disabled hunters with a permit to use a vehicle and resident active duty military personnel can harvest spikes at least three inches long or a deer with at least two points on one side.

Antler restrictions are working. Although three-points-on-one-side makes a legal buck, most archery hunters hold out for something larger. Last year, a record 59 percent of all bucks harvested were two-and-a-half years old or older. In my youth, spikes and four-pointers made up the majority of bucks harvested. Today, even the 1 1/2-year-old bucks averaged five points, 2 1/2-year-olds averaged seven points and 3 1/2-year-old bucks averaged eight points. Approximately 18 percent of all hunters harvested bucks last season.

By the Numbers

The Pennsylvania Game Commission reported that hunters purchased 340,474 archery licenses last year — an all-time high. They expect the total to be upwards of 400,000 this fall. Archery kills made up 31 percent of the total deer harvest last season. This is up from 19 percent prior to the legalization of crossbows in 2009. During that same period, the archery percentage of the antlerless harvest grew from 16 to 27, while the archery buck harvest increased from 26 to 37 percent of the total.

Deer Hunter Focus Areas

For the second year in a row, the PGC has created Deer Hunter Focus Areas — areas of state game lands that have good habitat, higher than average deer numbers and a regenerating forest that the agency would like to protect without deer-excluding fencing. Last year, 64 areas were designated in 37 different state game lands. This year, the numbers are up to 87 Deer Hunter Focus Areas in 45 game lands. In many of these areas, some usually-gated roads will be open to hunters beginning Oct. 14 for the October inline muzzleloader, and Special Firearms seasons, Oct. 15-22. The roads will remain open through the end of rifle deer season on Dec. 10.

Centre County has four focus areas, one on State Game Lands 33 in Rush Township, and three on SGL 100 in Burnside Township — adjacent to Sproul State Forest. Two normally-gated roads will be open into the interior of SGL 33. These roads will be marked with posters and can be accessed from Sandy Ridge Trail.

The largest focus area on SGL 100 has three special access roads — two off of Route 144 and one off of Route 879. A second focus area is a triangle of land with a special access road off of State Line Road. The very northern tip of Centre County houses the third focus area of SGL 100. The remote headwaters of Bougher Run are located here and can be accessed from a newly opened road northwest of Route 144. According to Northcentral Information and Education Director Doty McDowell, the special access roads in these three focus areas are in Elk Hunt Zone 13. These roads will be closed during elk season.

Maps of all Deer Focus Areas can be found at www.pgc.pa.gov. Look for “Deer Hunter Focus Areas,” in the “Quick Clicks” area on the left side of the homepage. Learn about the Deer Hunter Focus Area program by clicking “Webinar Playlist” under “Recent Videos” on the right side of the homepage.

While falling acorns signal bounty, they also signal a change in deer behavior. Acorns will not be the only thing that deer eat, but they are certainly a favored menu item. A bountiful acorn crop means that deer will travel less and spend less time feeding. It would be wise for archery hunters to locate a stand of white or chestnut oaks and consider concentrating their efforts there.

If acorns are abundant in your hunting area, rest assured that all wildlife will have an easier time negotiating winter.

This story was originally published October 1, 2016 at 11:35 PM with the headline "Archery deer season underway as first signs of Autumn show."