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Deer season and the holidays

Sunday December 14, 2008 | 12:00 AM

Don Jacobs

Before I share a few thoughts about the deer season with you, I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. My next article is scheduled for the Sunday between Christmas and New Years. Be prepared for a few New Year’s resolutions. May your holidays be filled with family, fun and food.

Sometimes I feel like a sounding board that has been hung in the middle of town square. I could be considered a place for people to vent their frustrations and solve the problems of the world. I am of course referring to the vast number of opinions I hear about the Pennsylvania deer herd and the liberal deer seasons. The phrase “you can’t please everyone” has never been more true. The sportsmen who shot a big buck this year or a few doe are happy about the way things are. The guys who spent countless hours chasing the allusive whitetail without success blame it on the state’s management plan. As you might expect, I have a different opinion.

I hunted seven days this rifle season. Most of them were spent in Luzerne County while two of them included a Susquehanna County hunt. The opening day of the season was my best day in the field for seeing deer. I saw 19 in all with two of them being buck. I choose not to fill my doe tags while waiting for the opportunity to take a trophy. The next three days were not so productive. I actually hunted in three different locations and didn’t see a deer unless I was up and moving. The sit and wait game didn’t work this season. The deer were bedded down since they didn’t have to look hard for food. My hunting party put on a lot of miles to move deer from their peaceful bedding areas. The real kick in the teeth came on the ride home as we watched dozens of deer freely feeding in the fields adjacent to the property we were hunting.

I must say the only thing missing from the woods this year were hunters. I counted a handful of shots on the opening morning. It usually sounds like the invasion of Normandy. In the past, fluorescent orange could be seen from every vantage point on the mountain, not this year. In fact, I traveled through Susquehanna County on the first day of their antlerl-ess season. We found several doe feeding in the fields along route 267 with fluorescent orange nowhere in sight.

The deer population may be down in some areas, but that was the overall goal of the management plan. What the Game Commission didn’t plan on was the change in the hunter’s attitudes and the way they hunt. The big group of hunters moving deer around throughout the season happens no longer. The organized hunter drives to fill tags is certainly a thing of the past and with so many deer hunting opportunities prior to the rifle season, many hunters don’t have to go out when the temperature is subfreezing.

I don’t have the answers to all of the complaints or questions I receive. I merely respond by saying that I hunted with my father and friends, enjoyed a few sunrises on crisp clear morning in the woods and I have some venison in my freezer. As far as I’m concerned, it was a great season. If you don’t agree, I’m sure you’ll let me know the next time you see out and about. By the way, don’t give up yet. We still have the late archery and flintlock season.

Traditional Flintlock and Late Archery Seasons!

Some of the best winter deer hunting is yet to come. The statewide late archery and flintlock muzzleloader deer seasons open on the day after Christmas, December 26, 2008, and close on Saturday, January 10, 2009. This is typically one of my favorite times of the year to deer hunt. We can only hope for snow cover. It will make it easier to see the deer and their tracks. Successful flintlock hunters usually spend time walking the woods in search of yarded deer. Yarded deer are those that have gathered together to spend the winter in certain grounds. Whitetails are typically easier to pattern in the bitter cold and snow covered mountains.

Archery hunters must have an unused buck tag to harvest a buck or an unused antlerless license in a specific Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) to harvest an antlerless deer. Flintlock hunters on the other hand can take either a buck or a doe with their unused buck tag and they can use an antlerless license in a specific WMU. The antler restriction, of three or more points on one side, still applies during these late seasons.

During the flintlock season, only single-barrel long-guns .44 caliber or larger and flintlock handguns .50 caliber or larger with a flintlock ignition system are permitted. The firearm must be an original or reproduction of a gun used prior to 1800. Peep sights and fiber-optic inserts are permitted, as well as iron, open "V" or notched sights. A flintlock ignition system consists of a hammer containing a naturally-occurring stone which is spring-propelled onto an iron or steel frizzen, which, in turn, creates sparks to ignite the gunpowder. Flintlock muzzleloader hunters may use "any single projectile" ammunition. The law used to state that only round balls were legal. Now hunters can use any type of slug in their gun. Muzzleloader license holders also have the option to use crossbows as part of the late flintlock season. Licensed hunters who choose to use a crossbow have the option of using any unused antlered deer tag as an either sex tag anywhere in the state. Hunters using archery or muzzleloader licenses, and hunting with those special sporting arms, are not required to wear fluorescent orange clothing. I believe it is a good idea to wear at least an orange hat. Remember, deer can’t see colors.

There are also many small game hunting opportunities left this winter. Be sure to check the Hunter’s digest you get with your license. It has all of the information you need to enjoy a few more winter hunts.

Be sure to watch Pennsylvania Outdoor Life tonight at 6:30 on WNEP-TV. We will take you along on a father and daughter deer hunt with a twist. It is truly a must see. Have a great day!