Pennsylvania Game News - October 2017 - 10

use their vacation time over the last week,
and that everyone with an archery tag tries
to be afield on those last two Saturdays.
That sways the harvest some.
The peak of Pennsylvania's rut also
historically has been the week before
Thanksgiving. So bucks are covering a lot
of territory as the season closes.
The rut, for most of us, though, seems
anything but synchronized.
Every year, bucks seem to start laying
scrapes earlier or later. The same holds
for chasing does.
"Based on conception data and fawn
captures over the years, the breeding
seems to be consistent - mid-November,"
Rosenberry said. "Behavior may vary
from year to year, but our records confirm
most breeding occurs around the same
time every year."
Fawns that are capable of breeding
usually come into heat in late November
or early December, Rosenberry said.
It's not necessarily a second rut, he
said, but it often occurs in that first week
of firearms season, particularly in western
and southeastern counties.
The best day for flattop harvest
occurred on the first day of the season.
Apparently, many bowhunters are eager to
put venison in the freezer. The opener was
followed by the last and fifth Saturdays.
Additionally, about 5 percent of the
overall archery harvest came from the
September season in WMUs 2B, 5C and
5D. About 4 percent of the overall archery
harvest was taken in the statewide afterChristmas bowhunt.
During the three-day special firearms
season last October, hunters took about
3 percent of the overall antlerless rifle
harvest.
The biggest day for rifle hunters came
on the statewide firearms opener. It has
been the best day to be afield for a long,
10

long time. Rifle hunters took about 25
percent of the rifle buck harvest that day.
Every other day of the rifle season pales
in comparison.
The first Saturday offered 7 percent
of the rifle buck harvest, followed by the
last Saturday, which served up about 4
percent.
The best day for flattops in the firearms
season was the first Saturday, when antlerless deer hunting opens in most WMUs.
About 30 percent of the antlerless harvest
occurred on that Saturday.
Nearly 60 percent of the overall rifle
harvest came in the first week. About
35 percent of the harvest occurred in the
second week of season. The remainder
occurred in special and extended deer
seasons.

DEER BEHAVIOR
Part of every hunter's approach to hunting is based upon what is learned from
scouting and prior experience.
Some of us work hard to pattern deer,
which often is more easily accomplished
in fragmented habitat, where deer must
cling to whatever cover is available.
Deer might also be patterned as they
ascend mountains in the morning and
come down in the evening.
Rosenberry relayed a story of a transmitter-collared buck in Pennsylvania's
ridge and valley region that moved up and
down the mountain each day in firearms
season, and survived.
"What was interesting is that the paths
the buck traveled on the opening day,
Tuesday and the two Saturdays spanned
1½ miles of mountain going east to west,"
Rosenberry said. "So much for patterning
a buck..."
Asked whether deer-urine lures help
hunters, Rosenberry said they don't
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2017

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