HUNTING AND TRAPPING OPPORTUNITIES FOR WINTER
HARRISBURG
– Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe reminds
hunters and trappers they still have a mixed bag of seasons from which
to choose after the statewide firearms deer season concludes on
Saturday, Dec. 8. They include seasons for deer, snowshoe hare, ruffed
grouse, squirrel, cottontail, pheasant, coyote, fisher, bobcat, beaver
and other furbearers, crows, doves and waterfowl.
The
small game seasons are: squirrel, Dec. 10-24 and Dec. 26-Feb. 23;
ruffed grouse, Dec. 10-24 and Dec. 26-Jan. 26; rabbit, Dec. 10-24 and
Dec. 26-Feb. 23; and snowshoe hare, Dec. 26-Jan. 1 in Wildlife
Management Units (WMUs) 2B, 2G and 3A. In addition, pheasants (males and
females) will be open from Dec. 10-24 and Dec. 26-Feb. 2 in WMUs 1A,
1B, 2B, 2D, 2E, 2F, 2G, 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 4A, 4B, 4D, 5C and 5D.
The statewide late archery and flintlock muzzleloader deer seasons run concurrently from Dec. 26-Jan. 12.
For
deer hunters with WMU 2B, 5C or 5D, they can choose to hunt antlerless
deer with use any legal sporting arm from Dec. 26-Jan. 26, or an
extended flintlock muzzleloader deer season for antlered or antlerless
deer from Dec. 26-Jan. 26, or an extended archery season for antlered or
antlerless deer from Jan. 14-26.
Flintlock
muzzleloader season participants may harvest an antlerless deer with a
WMU license, DMAP permit, or a general hunting license deer harvest tag.
During the late season, antlered deer may be taken only by bowhunters
and flintlock muzzleloader hunters who possess an unused general hunting
license deer harvest tag.
Hunters
using archery or muzzleloader licenses, and hunting with those special
sporting arms, are not required to wear fluorescent orange, but are
encouraged to do so, especially when hunting in WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D,
where an antlerless season for limited-range firearms users will also be
in progress. Refer to the Digest for firearms restrictions in special
regulations areas. Hunters using conventional firearms in those WMUs
must wear 250 square inches of fluorescent orange.
Furbearer
hunting seasons continuing through the winter months include: red and
gray foxes, until Feb. 16, including Sundays; raccoons, until Feb. 16;
and bobcats, in designated WMUs, from Jan. 15-Feb. 5.
Furbearer
trapping seasons include: beavers, Dec. 26-March 31 (bag limits depend
on WMU, outlined on page 74 of the 2012-13 Digest); mink and muskrats,
until Jan. 6; raccoons, skunks, opossums, foxes, coyotes and weasels,
until Feb. 17; bobcats, in designated WMUs from Dec. 15-Jan. 6; and
fishers, in designated WMUs, from Dec. 15-20.
Trappers
also may use cable restraints for foxes and coyotes from Dec. 26-Feb.
17, providing they have passed a mandatory cable restraint certification
course. For information on courses, visit the Game Commission’s website
and click on the “Hunter Education” link in the right-hand column and
choose the month of interest to find the nearest course.
Dove
hunters also will have late season opportunities when dove season runs
Dec. 26-Jan. 5. Hunting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to
sunset, and the daily limit is 15 birds.
Waterfowl
hunters have plenty of hunting opportunities to pursue from December
into April. Hunters may take Canada geese and white-fronted geese during
the following upcoming seasons: Atlantic Population Zone, Dec. 13-Jan.
26; Southern James Bay Canada Goose Hunting Zone, Dec. 10-Jan. 18; and
Resident Canada Goose Zone, from Dec. 11-Jan. 15 and Feb. 1-28.
The
regular snow goose season runs until Jan. 26 in the Atlantic Population
Zone, until Jan. 18 in the Southern James Bay Zone and until Feb. 28 in
the Regular Population Goose Zone. For the snow goose conservation
hunt, hunters will need to obtain a free special permit in addition to
other waterfowl-required federal and state licenses. Bag limits for the
conservation hunt are 25 daily and no possession limit, and the season
lengths for the conservation hunt are: Jan. 28-April 26 in the Atlantic
Population Zone; Jan. 29-April 26 in the Southern James Bay Population
Zone; and March 1-April 26 in the Resident Population Zone.
Ducks,
sea ducks, coots and mergansers may be hunted in the Lake Erie Zone
until Dec. 29; in the North Zone, until Jan. 5; in the Northwest Zone
through Dec. 14; and in the South Zone through Jan. 15.
For
details on waterfowl bag limits in each of the zones, please consult
the Pennsylvania 2012-13 Guide to Migratory Game Bird Hunting, which is
available on the agency’s website (www.pgc.state.pa.us) by clicking on the “2012-13 Migratory Game Bird Brochure” icon in the center of the homepage.
In
addition to a regular Pennsylvania hunting license, persons 16 and
older must have a Federal Migratory Bird and Conservation Stamp,
commonly referred to as a “Duck Stamp” to hunt waterfowl. Regardless of
age, hunters also must have a Pennsylvania Migratory Game Bird License
to hunt waterfowl and other migratory birds, including doves, woodcock,
coots, moorhens, rails and snipe. All migratory game bird hunters in the
United States are required to complete a Harvest Information Program
survey when they purchase a state migratory game bird license. The
survey information is then forwarded to the USFWS.
