Moving to PA...
 

Looks like I'll be moving to PA sometime at the end of this year. A couple of questions:

Is it really as hard as they say it is to find hunting land there? I'll be in the Lancaster area.

What are season dates and regs (yes I could check the website but I like conversation more).

Anyone in the area care to take a rookie 2 (haven't got a deer yet) of years hunting with them? :)

RE: Moving to PA...
 

sorry... wanted to watch for replies...

RE: Moving to PA...
 

Yes area around lamcaster and berks county is tough. People fight over it. I will help you.I live near Morgantown. 15 south of Reading.Lancaster county is mostly amish cleared farms.But Over in berks there is some more woods and then some in York county ,but dont know much about York county. Where in the Lancaster area ? Morgantown is about 25 miles east of lancaster.

RE: Moving to PA...
 

This year our archery season starts Oct. 1st and runs through Nov. 12th. We also have an extended archery season from Dec. 26th through Jan. 14th.

Your best bet might be to look for state gamelands near the area where you will be living. That way you'll have somewhere to go until you can start finding private spots that you can hunt.

RE: Moving to PA...
 

Your best bet is to register to hunt Fort Indiantown Gap army base. Thousands of acres and good hunting.

RE: Moving to PA...
 

Wow, look at all these great responses and in such a short time. I live about an hour north and east of the area you are referring to. There is some decent public land on the northern end of Berks county...Hawk Mountain area.

RE: Moving to PA...
 

bscofield, drop me a line when you get in town. Plenty of great hunting spots in Lancaster and Lebanon Counties. Quite a few corn fed monsters in each county with little or no hunting pressure. All you have to do is ask.

RE: Moving to PA...
 

You're about an hour from Maryland. for about 100 bucks you can buy a non resident license and can come down and bow hunt from Sept through February. There are a couple big watersheds that are Archery only and are home to a ton of deer. You also have a ton of state land scattered around the state. All this and about 36 deer tags for $100 bucks. OF course, there's NO Sunday hunting.

RE: Moving to PA...
 

[:@]At least as a resident, you'll get your doe permit [:@] Non resident that arePa Landowners pay taxes and such on Camps includimg school taxes..but get no break on licenses or doe permits!! all sold out by the time we apply!!:(

But thats a rant for another thread! Anyway, in the Clarion area there is plenty of land to hunt both private and State Game Lands. I Can't speak of your area.

RE: Moving to PA...
 

If you're willing to drive 2.5 hours, State Game Land 13 in Sullivan County has a little under 50,000 acres of public hunting. There's also a park on one side and thousands of acres of private land in the vicinity. That means that it won't be hunted out.

RE: Moving to PA...
 

I live in Berks County. The state game lands in and around the areas where you are going to live receive a lot of hunting pressure. I have been living here for a year and still have not found a private place to hunt. Not trying to discourage you but just trying to be realistic.

RE: Moving to PA...
 

See the link below and welcome to Pennsylvania,this should give you some idea of the typical whitetails you should routely bag each fall here:


http://www.american-hunter.com/monsterbucks/pahunterbuck.htm

If this is the deer I think it is was taken within the city limits of Pittsburgh 50 yards from a member of my churches stand.

RE: Moving to PA...
 

So can someone explain to me what this means:

DEER, ARCHERY (Antlered and Antlerless) Statewide: Oct.1-Nov. 12 and Dec. 26-Jan. 14. One antlered deer per hunting license year. One antlerless deer with each required antlerless license.

Does this mean that it's required that a person take a doe before a buck? Don't the regs change from county to county?

To answer some other questions. I'll be living in Lancaster county, around a 1 year somewhere on between lancaster and Harrisburg, and then hopefully in the Lititz area.

RE: Moving to PA...
 

Nope. Take a buck whenever. Don't need to take a doe first.
PA moved from County based management units to larger Wildlife Managment Units (WMUs) a few years ago. Anterless allocations (doe tags) are issued by WMU. How many is available in a given WMU depends of a few variables. In the Special Regulation Areas (SRA) they are pretty much unlimited doe tags. Areas around Philly & Pittsburgh fall into SRA areas. There are maps on the PGC website.

Some good farmland hunting between Harrisburg and Lancaster if you can get permission. Just takes a little leg work on your part.

RE: Moving to PA...
 

Hunt the GL around middle creek wildlife refuge, one on the Lancaster/Lebanon line, or drive to Blue Mountain. Hunting is tough, but it wouldn't be fun if it was easy.

RE: Moving to PA...
 

Forgot to mention we have antler restrictions here in PA. Either 3pts to a side or 4pts depending on what WMU you are hunting. You can see the maps on the PGC website that outline the WMU areas.