My post has the when, 1951, the first archery only season. A man named Clayton Shenk who was an Olympic archer and an active oficer in the Lancaster federation for years, lobbied the legislature for a long time to have a season just for archers. Since that 1st season in 1951, the legnth of the archery season has increased. One year the Motor City whack job Ted Ngent,came to a PA Game Commission to lobby the board for a longer archery season so they could hunt the rut, that was 1993 when the season was extended for 2 weeks. If gun hunters got 1st crack at the buck, as you ask, the archers would complain, the same as the gun hunters do now. Everyone wants to be first.