By Austin Bower
Pennsylvania’s statewide deer season began Sept. 29. Although the 29th was the season opener, Allegheny County has a special regulation in which archery season began two weeks earlier. This season includes only doe, which are limited to being harvested by a bow.
The regular archery season will last until the second week of November. During the last few weeks of October and the first week of November, when males are chasing the females, a hunter’s chances of seeing deer increase.
New for this year the game commission has regulated that hunters don’t have to display their hunting license. The only thing they require is that hunters must have a valid state hunting license in their possession while they are hunting.
For archery season there are a lot of choices to make, like the style of bow to use. Hunters can go traditional and test their skills at shooting a recurve; the recurve is the traditional-looking bow, and it is either wooden or fiberglass. This type of bow has a short range of accuracy, but hunters have more of an accomplishment once they have conquered the recurve.
Outdoor enthusiasts could also take the more primitive route and shoot a compound bow with a sight on it. The new compound bows are shooting super-fast and are lethal out to a whopping 60 yards.
Newest to the archery world is the crossbow, which was made legal just a few years back. The crossbow shoots faster and has a flatter trajectory at long distances. This is essentially a bow that shoots and is held like a rifle, but shoots arrows.
The other choice hunters have to make is what kind of broad heads or tips they should use. They also have to choose between a fixed blade or an expandable.
Also, the last thing that hunters need to do before they hit the woods is that they shoot their bows and make sure when they have the chance at deer they can make a lethal shot. The last thing any hunter wants to happen is that they wound a deer and can’t find it. So hunters practice up and make sure that when the deer come into range it is game over.
