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This Saturday might be the richest day of the year for hunting in Pennsylvania when it comes to the number of species that can be legally pursued.
Deer hunters could take a buck with a bow and a doe with a bow or a muzzleloader. Bowhunters could also take a black bear. Small-game hunters could bag squirrels, rabbits, ruffed grouse, woodcocks, doves and bobwhite quail. Ducks, mergansers and coots are legal game for waterfowlers. And varmint hunters can shoot crows, groundhogs, porcupines and coyotes.
About the only popular game species that aren't in season are pheasants and wild turkeys. Pheasant season begins next Saturday, Oct. 21, and the fall turkey season begins the Saturday after that, Oct. 28. Junior hunters could hunt pheasants this Saturday, however, as part of the special junior pheasant hunt that runs from Oct. 7-14.
This bounty of hunting opportunities became evident to me a couple of weeks ago as I was browsing through the 2023/24 Hunting & Trapping Digest. At the time, I was planning my schedule for a few upcoming hunting and fishing trips during this fall and wanted to make sure of some of the opening days of the various October hunting seasons.
My attention was first focused on Oct. 14 because that date marked the opening day for rabbits, ruffed grouse and woodcocks. The statewide squirrel season started back on Sept. 9 this year, and the seasons for doves and bobwhite quail started on Sept. 1, so those seasons are already underway.
The September start of the quail season is new this year and a situation that might seem a bit curious. There really have been no wild quail in Pennsylvania for generations, but we continued to have a quail season that opened every year in mid-October with a daily limit of four birds. Despite the absence of wild quail, many dog owners and private landowners regularly released captive-raised quail on their property for dog training or private hunting opportunities. Although rare, a few of those privately stocked birds sometimes strayed to adjacent properties and encountered by hunters pursuing other small game.
Earlier this year, the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners acknowledged this private put-and-take situation by expanding the hunting opportunities on those birds. The Pennsylvania quail season now runs from Sept. 1 until the end of March, except during the firearms deer and bear seasons and Christmas day, with no daily limit.
Next, I noticed that muzzleloader season for antlerless deer and the archery and muzzleloader seasons for black bears all start on Oct. 14. Along with the statewide archery deer season that started on Sept. 30, deer and bear hunters have a full slate of opportunities during mid-October. Although not a part of the Oct. 14 bounty, it is worth mentioning here the special three-day antlerless only deer season for junior, senior and mentored license holders, active-duty military and persons with a permit to use a vehicle as a blind that is set for next week, Oct. 19-21.
Saturday marks the last day of the early season for ducks, mergansers and coots in the South Zone, which comprises most of Pennsylvania south of Interstate 80. This is not the end of hunting opportunities for waterfowlers in our region, however. The duck season returns to the South Zone on Nov. 11 and runs through Jan. 20. Three installments of Canada goose hunting will occur from Oct. 28-Nov. 24 and Dec. 11-Jan. 20 and Feb. 2-24.
Rounding out the list of species in play now I'll include in the general category as "varmints." Many of these animals have no closed season or a very short closed season.
Crows are in season from late August until late March but can only be hunted on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Someone once told me why crows can only be hunted a few days a week, but I have long since forgotten that explanation. Porcupines are in season from Oct. 7 until January with the exception of the firearms deer season and Christmas day. Groundhogs are in season year-round, except for the firearms deer season. Coyotes can be hunted day or night year-round including Sundays. Technically, opossums, skunks and weasels also have no closed season, but I hesitate to list them as true hunting opportunities. I don't know anyone who has ever hunted any of those critters on purpose, and anyone who has shot one did so as "pest control."
While there are plenty of hunting opportunities available from now throughout the winter months, keep in mind that many of them require a special license or permit in addition to your general hunting license to participate in them. Make sure you have the proper documents for the activity you are engaged in.