Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania, It’s Almost Deer Season

Published

2 years ago

September 14, 2024

In Pennsylvania, It’s Almost Deer Season

It’s probably safe to say that most people, given the chance to trade their cellphone for a landline, swap out their vehicle for a horse and buggy, or replace their washing machine with a bucket, a bar of rough homemade soap and a 100-yard walk to the nearest river, would opt to keep their modern conveniences.

Tools offering efficiency, ease and comfort are hard to forgo.

There are exceptions, though. Bowhunters – who represent one of every two deer hunters in Pennsylvania overall – each year willingly go afield with stick and string, albeit often modernized, finding attraction in the challenge and intimacy of close-range encounters.

More than 350,000 bowhunters will pursue whitetails across Pennsylvania this fall, starting soon. Archery season begins in Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) 2B, 5C and 5D – those are the ones surrounding Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, respectively – on Sept. 21 and runs through Nov. 29, including two Sundays, Nov. 17 and 24, then comes back in from Dec. 26-Jan. 25. The statewide archery season kicks off on Oct. 5 and includes one Sunday, Nov. 17, before ending on Nov. 22. It reopens Dec. 26-Jan. 20.

“No other state has as many bowhunters as Pennsylvania,” said Game Commission Executive Director Steve Smith. “And it’s not hard to see why so many love the season. It’s a special time, with the chance to hunt in mild weather against a backdrop of amazing fall color early on and the promise of the whitetail rut later.

“Hunters appreciate what’s available and take advantage of it.”

They take deer, too. Last year, in the 2023-24 seasons, archers harvested an estimated 154,850 whitetails (83,370 bucks and 71,480 antlerless deer). That was about 36% of the overall harvest.

That matched the most recent five-year average and is in line with what’s occurring on a larger scale. According to the National Deer Association’s 2024 “Deer Report,” in the three seasons from 2020 to 2022, archers took, on average, about 34% of all deer harvested across what’s considered the Northeast region, a 13-state area stretching from Maine to Virginia.

Hunters who want the opportunity to fill a tag during archery season should hunt where deer want to be, said David Stainbrook, the Game Commission’s Deer and Elk Section Supervisor. That’s typically around food and cover. He recommends hunters scout for fresh deer sign around places rich in green browse and, later, hard and soft mast, which includes everything from apples and agricultural crops to acorns. If those places are close to thick escape and bedding cover, all the better, he said.

Often, though, the real key is just being out there. Deer have large home ranges, Stainbrook said, taking in hundreds of acres.

“So if I could give hunters one piece of advice, it would be to just hunt as much as possible,” Stainbrook said. “Putting more time in the woods is going to increase your odds of harvesting a deer.”

That’s true throughout the season. Every week of the 2023-24 archery season contributed at least 10% to the overall harvest, with some weeks accounting for as much as 25%.

Smith, for one, will be out there, enjoying the season for all sorts of reasons, just like so many others.

“Pennsylvania’s archery deer season is big on opportunity, and I wouldn’t miss it,” Smith said

Getting Started

The Game Commission’s YouTube page (https://www.youtube.com/pagamecommission) offers several videos to help deer hunters.

There’s a two-part series on learning to archery hunt deer, along with another on the effective range of crossbows, one on tracking a deer after the shot in archery season, and another on deboning a deer in the field. There are also several videos on tree stand safety.

Search “learn to hunt” and “tree stand safety.”

Hunters might also want to check out the in-person and online versions of Pennsylvania’s “Successful Bowhunting” course and/or its online archery safety course. They’re available at https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/0913e52e0cda4e3e848328f2a516dc18.

Of course, bowhunters should also practice with their equipment before the season starts, shooting from the ground and/or an elevated stand, whichever mimics how they’ll hunt. After it starts, hunters should only take responsible shots – broadside or quartering-away shots at deer within their personal maximum effective shooting range – to ensure quick, clean kills.

As for equipment, archery hunters may use long, recurve or compound bows, or crossbows. Bows must have a draw weight of at least 35 pounds; crossbows must have a minimum draw weight of 125 pounds.

Illuminated nocks that aid in tracking or locating the arrow or bolt after being launched are legal, but transmitter-tracking arrows are not.

Tree stands and climbing devices that cause damage to trees are unlawful to use or occupy unless the user has written permission from the landowner. Tree stands or tree steps penetrating a tree’s cambium layer are unlawful to install or occupy on state game lands, state forests or state parks.

Portable hunting tree stands and blinds are allowed on state game lands, starting two weeks before opening day of archery season, but must be removed no later than two weeks after the close of the flintlock and late archery deer seasons in the WMU being hunted.

In all cases, tree stands on state game lands also must be conspicuously marked with a durable identification tag that identifies the stand owner. Those tags must include the hunter’s first and last name and legal home address, their nine-digit CID number, or their unique Sportsman’s Equipment ID number. Hunters can find their number in their HuntFishPA online profile or on their printed license.

Hunters who plan to be afield on private property on the Sundays open to archers must carry with them written permission from the landowner.

Safety Tips for Bowhunters

Make sure someone knows where you’re hunting and when you expect to return home. Leave a note or topographic map with your family or a friend. Pack a cellphone for emergencies.

Practice climbing with your tree stand before the opening day of the season, especially at dawn and dusk. Consider placing non-slip material on the deck of your tree stand if it’s not already there.

Always use a fall-restraint device – preferably a full-body harness – when hunting from a tree stand. Wear the device from the moment you leave the ground until you return. Don’t climb dead, wet or icy trees, and stay on the ground on blustery days.

Use a hoist rope to lift your bow and backpack to your tree stand. Trying to climb with either will place you at unnecessary risk.

Don’t sleep in a tree stand. If you can’t stay awake, return to the ground.

Keep yourself in good physical condition. Fatigue can impact judgment, coordination and reaction time, as well as accuracy.

Always carry broadhead-tipped arrows in a protective quiver, especially when moving. Cocked crossbows should always be pointed in a safe direction. Know how to uncock a crossbow safely, too. If you use a mechanical release with a vertical bow, always keep your index finger away from the trigger when drawing.

In all cases, check your equipment before every outing and follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for using it.

Venison Care

While hunting in early fall often offers pleasant days afield, the warm weather also presents challenges for successful deer hunters.

One is making sure they wind up with high-quality venison for the table.

Deer harvested when the weather is warm should be field dressed quickly, then taken from the field and cooled down as soon as possible, preferably by refrigerating if temperatures are above 40 degrees.

Additional information on warm-weather venison care, as well as instructions on deer processing and other tips, are available on the white-tailed deer page on the Game Commission’s website, www.pgc.pa.gov.

CWD Regulations

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) – an always-fatal prion disease impacting deer and elk for which there is no cure – continues to spread across Pennsylvania both geographically and in terms of the number of deer infected.

“This illustrates the urgency of doing something to manage this disease,” said Andrea Korman, the Game Commission’s Chronic Wasting Disease Section Supervisor. “Our deer herd requires protection from this threat, and I think we can all agree we do not want to stay where we are now.”

So this year, three Disease Management Areas (DMAs) – places with special rules in place to slow the human-assisted spread of CWD – have expanded. DMA 2 in southcentral Pennsylvania grew eastward; DMA 3 in western Pennsylvania expanded south; and DMA 8 in the southeast grew to the south and west.

Up-to-date boundaries for those and all DMAs are described at https://arcg.is/1G4TLr.

Hunters who harvest a deer within the boundaries of a DMA or the Established Area (EA) can take them directly to any Game Commission-approved processor or taxidermist anywhere in the state. That list is available at www.pgc.pa.gov/cwd.

Hunters who take a deer within a DMA or the EA may also leave the high-risk parts at the location of harvest, although this is not preferred, or they may take it home to process themselves so long as they also live within that DMA or the EA and dispose of the high-risk parts through a trash service. Hunters who live outside a DMA or the EA can quarter the deer to take it home, free of high-risk parts.

High-risk parts include the head (including brain, tonsils, eyes, and any lymph nodes); spinal cord/backbone; spleen; skull plate with attached antlers, if visible brain or spinal cord tissue is present; cape, if visible brain or spinal cord tissue is present; upper canine teeth, if root structure or other soft tissue is present; any object or article containing visible brain or spinal cord tissue; unfinished taxidermy mounts; and brain-tanned hides.

Deer Management Assistance Program

The Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) allows hunters to get permits good for harvesting antlerless deer – one per tag – on the specific property or area for which the permit was issued.

Once again this year, the Game Commission is offering DMAP tags on some state game lands, namely 41 spread across the Northwest, Northcentral, Northeast and Southeast regions. Combined, 7,000 tags were made available across 360,014 acres.

All game lands in DMAP have one thing in common: they have too many deer for the habitat to support. This year – for the first time in a while – Game Commission foresters are erecting deer-proof fencing in every region of the state around new timber cuts. If they don’t, overabundant deer eat the young seedlings so fast that the forest cannot regenerate a healthy habitat. DMAP can mitigate the need for that by targeting hunting pressure in areas where it’s needed.

The Game Commission is also offering DMAP tags in places with CWD. There, the goal is to “increase CWD sampling through hunter harvest to determine the extent and sample prevalence of the disease,” Korman said. Biologists would like to get 250 deer per DMAP unit, a target that hunters have hit in several units previously.

There are seven CWD DMAP units this year – three less than last year – though two of those that remain, DMAP units 6367 and 6396, are larger than before. Details on licenses per unit are listed at the same link as other DMAP tags.

For information on DMAP properties of all kinds, visit https://www.pgcapps.pa.gov/Harvest/DMAP.

Deer Seasons to Follow

While deer hunting in Pennsylvania kicks off with the archery season, a full slate of other opportunities follow.

The muzzleloader season for antlerless deer runs Oct. 19-26. During its last three days, Oct. 24-26, the season overlaps with the special firearms deer season, in which junior and senior license holders, mentored permit holders, active-duty military and hunters with a permit to use a vehicle as a blind may hunt antlerless deer with additional sporting arms, including approved rifles and shotguns. The October muzzleloader and special firearms seasons also are open for bear hunting.

The statewide regular firearms deer season runs Nov. 30-Dec. 14 and includes a day of Sunday hunting on Dec. 1.

And aside from after-Christmas archery deer hunting opportunities, properly licensed hunters may participate in flintlock deer season, which runs Dec.26-Jan.20 statewide and Dec. 26-Jan. 25 in WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D. There’s also an extended firearms deer season for antlerless deer, which run Dec. 26-Jan.25 in WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D, and Jan. 2-20 in WMUs 4A, 4D and 5A.

Each hunter receives an antlered deer harvest tag as part of a general hunting license. An antlerless deer license or DMAP permit is needed for each antlerless deer harvested. Valid licenses or permits must be possessed to lawfully hunt deer, and valid paper harvest tags must be carried afield while deer hunting, then attached to the deer’s ear before the deer is moved.

Licenses, including remaining antlerless licenses and DMAP permits, may be purchased online at HuntFishPA.gov, but those who plan to hunt soon after purchasing a license likely are better off visiting a license issuing agent, a list of which is available on the Licenses and Permits page at www.pgc.pa.gov.

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Pennsylvania

How people in Western Pennsylvania can stay safe if they need to be outdoors

Published

8 hours ago

July 17, 2026

Press Room

How people in Western Pennsylvania can stay safe if they need to be outdoors

With a toxicity level that is higher than typical air pollution, the thick blanket of smoke from Ontario wildfires currently blanketing a good portion of the East Coast can pose a big risk for those whose jobs don’t allow them to remain inside.

According to the EPA, wildfire smoke contains a mix of gases and tiny particles that can irritate the lungs and airways. In sunlight, some of those gases can also react to form ozone, another harmful air pollutant.

As the Air Quality Index in Pittsburgh reached 240 at 1 p.m. Friday, a UCLA pulmonologist recently told NPR that AQI levels of 100-200 roughly equate to smoking a quarter to half a pack [of cigarettes] a day.

Construction workers, like those on the Commercial Street Bridge project, landscapers or others who work outside for a living and must still venture out, should limit their exposure, wear a mask and limit physical exertion.

“The N95 mask is absolutely the best way to protect yourself and your lungs,” said Dr. Sally Wenzel, director of the University of Pittsburgh Asthma and Environmental Lung Health Institute at UPMC. “If you can’t do that, a surgical mask would probably be next, but not nearly as good.”

A good fit is important.

“You want to be able to — the way we did during covid — put it on your face, breathe in and get a little bit of a suction feeling,” she said. “The mask should collapse a little bit when you breathe in. You want to have as few empty, open spaces for the air to go through so it has to go through the mask to get to your nose and mouth.”

There is no hard and fast rule on break frequency.

“The longer you’re ‘exercising,’ the heavier your breathing is going to be and the more you’re going to inhale the stuff that’s out there,” she said. “[Breaks] might allow you to regain a little bit of your energy, not to have to breathe quite as hard as you were at the end of that hour.”

For those who can stay inside, the focus shifts to keeping the smoky air out of the home.

Steve Boehmer, owner of Boehmer Heating and Cooling in Beechview, offers some insight.

“Have a good filter in place, a clean filter,” he said. “Another thing you can do is run your fan all the time. Most people’s thermostats have a fan switch: auto or on. Auto means that the fan runs when the air conditioner runs. If you turn it on, the fan runs all the time. That fan running all the time can make your filter work more of the time, keep the air clean and the particles down.”

Filter choice, he said, is important, too.

“There are different levels of filters based on their MERV rating,” said Boehmer. “The higher the number, the tighter the weave is and the more particles it can capture. But the higher the rating, the more restrictive the airflow is and it can start to hurt your system. A piece of cardboard is a great filter; it’s not going to let anything through. But it’s not going to let any air through either. So you want to be careful you don’t go too high on that rating.”

The EPA recommends setting the air to recirculate when driving as well.

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Pennsylvania

Continued Legacy: Central Pennsylvania Auto Auction gears up for 25th anniversary of Classic Car Auction

Published

20 hours ago

July 17, 2026

Press Room

Continued Legacy: Central Pennsylvania Auto Auction gears up for 25th anniversary of Classic Car Auction

MILL HALL — This weekend, Central Pennsylvania Auto Auction, 41 Airstrip Dr., Mill Hall, will celebrate the 25th anniversary of its annual Classic Car Auction, welcoming thousands of collectors, buyers and enthusiasts from across the country for two days of bidding, entertainment and celebration. For President Doug Miller, however, the milestone represents far more than classic automobiles.

“It’s kind of like a milestone for us,” Miller said, as he reflected on the anniversary. “Because it’s my dad that started this. We lost him three years ago, and obviously we’re continuing on his legacy and things that he wanted to do. It’s not about the vehicles, it’s not about the auction. It’s just more of continuing on what he would want.”

The collector car event is an extension of the business founded by Miller’s father, Grant, and mother in 1987. While the company is preparing to celebrate 39 years of its weekly dealer-only auto auction in August, the annual collector auction has become a destination event in its own right.

“My father started the company 39 years ago in 1987,” he said. “Over the years, as our sales sort of grew, my father took an interest in antique and collector cars. He would go to other auctions and buy cars and thought, ‘Geez, we have our facility here. We should maybe try and do one of our own.’ So 25 years ago, we set up our collector car auction that we hold, and it’s always been the third weekend in July ever since.”

This year’s event will feature more than 400 collector vehicles crossing the auction block over two days, along with vintage memorabilia, gas pumps, signs, mini bikes and other automotive collectibles.

While many of the consignments come from Pennsylvania and neighboring states, Miller said the auction’s reputation now stretches far beyond the region.

“We have customers that come from all across the United States,” he said. “The consignments come out of Pennsylvania and the bordering states — New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Maryland, Delaware. We have customers that have sent cars from as far as North Carolina.”

The auction has also become much more than a place to buy and sell classic vehicles.

Thursday evening opens with a complimentary cocktail reception featuring live entertainment at Grant’s Place. The auction begins Friday morning with memorabilia before moving to the collector cars. Friday evening includes a VIP gala with dinner, live music and fireworks.

“It’s like a celebration, not just an auction,” Miller said. “We like to try to provide some entertainment because we’re obviously in a rural area and it gives the people something to do after the sale’s over.”

The event also brings a significant economic boost to the surrounding community. Hotels fill with visitors, restaurants welcome out-of-town guests and dozens of RV owners make a weekend of the festivities.

“We’ll have upwards to probably a couple thousand people come through our doors over the next three days,” Miller said. “We’ll probably have 30 or 40 RVs across the street that people will set up and spend the weekend camping in our parking lot.”

The celebration comes after months of planning by a team of employees who transform the auction grounds in just a matter of hours. Following Thursday’s regular dealer auction of roughly 750 vehicles, staff immediately begin clearing the lot and staging the hundreds of collector cars.

“We go home to shower and come back basically,” Shanan Miller said with a laugh. “We’re here around the clock.”

Behind the scenes, nearly 100 employees — full-time and part-time — work together on auction days to keep the operation running smoothly.

“It wouldn’t be possible without our employees,” he said. “It’s a lot of work.”

He added that once the first gavel falls Friday morning, everything falls into place.

“Once Friday morning at 9 o’clock hits, it just sort of takes off,” he said. “It’s on autopilot for the weekend.”

For Doug, the family business has always been about more than selling vehicles.

After graduating from high school in 1989, he briefly attended college before realizing his passion remained at the auction his father had built. His father insisted he learn every aspect of the business from the ground up.

“He said, ‘If you think for one minute that you’re going to leave school and come here and sit behind a desk and direct orders, that’s not happening,’” Doug recalled. “He said, ‘You’re going to learn every function in this business.’”

So he did.

He started detailing cars, transporting vehicles, picking up litter and plowing snow before eventually moving into management.

“And I still do,” he said with a smile. “If I need to go pick up a load of cars, I can do it.”

Today, he is passing those same lessons on to his son, Jack Miller, who joined the business full time after the passing of his grandfather.

“I’m doing the same thing with my son, Jack,” Doug said. “He started where I did too.”

In following in their footsteps, Jack hopes to preserve what generations before him have built.

“I just want to continue what my dad has done and my grandfather before him,” Jack said. “Do as good of a job as they’ve done and provide the same level of service that they’ve shown me to provide.”

He believes the relationships built over decades are what keep customers returning.

“I see how it makes our customers feel,” he said. “I believe that’s a huge part of what brings them back here, week after week if it’s for the regular sale, or every year for the classic auction. Just providing good service and working hard — it feels good to work hard and see a positive end result.”

Doug agreed that philosophy remains the cornerstone of the business his father founded nearly four decades ago.

“One thing my dad taught me is that you need to surround yourself with good people,” he said. “Whether it’s customers or employees, that’s what makes you successful.”

That commitment to service extends to everyone who visits the auction.

“We’re very customer-service driven,” Miller said. “You could sell popsicles, you could sell cars or whatever. It’s all about taking care of your customer. That’s what’s going to get them to come back.”

As Central Pennsylvania Auction celebrates 25 years of its Classic Car Auction, the event stands as both a showcase of automotive history and a tribute to the family legacy that continues to drive it forward.

For the Miller family, every collector car that rolls across the auction block is another chapter in a story that began with one man’s dream in 1987– and one they hope will continue for generations to come.

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Pennsylvania

Wildfire smoke puts Pittsburgh under Code Red air quality alert

Published

1 day ago

July 16, 2026

Press Room

Wildfire smoke puts Pittsburgh under Code Red air quality alert

Pittsburgh was under a Code Red air quality alert on Thursday, July 16 due to wildfire smoke.
The smoke originated from wildfires burning in Canada and Minnesota.
A Code Red alert indicates unhealthy air quality, while a Code Orange alert means it is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Pittsburgh was under a code red air quality alert on Thursday, July 16 as wildfire smoke from Canada and Minnesota settled across the city.

The city’s air quality was expected to deteriorate as smoke concentration at ground level increased throughout the day, with the day’s overall air quality forecast as unhealthy due to fine particles carried in smoke, according to Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

Here’s what to know about Pittsburgh’s air quality.

What’s the air quality in Pittsburgh today?

The morning of July 16, the air quality was moderate, with an Air Quality Index reading of 55, according to AirNow. But it was expected to hit unhealthy levels later in the day, with the overall daily air quality anticipated to reach dangerous levels with an AQI of 175, prompting Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to issue a Code Red air quality alert. The alert is based on the day’s expected overall air quality and not individual hour-to-hour readings.

Smoke was likely to continue to impact Pittsburgh into the weekend, with a forecast overall daily AQI of 140 on July 17, with the state department of environmental protection issuing a Code Orange air quality alert. This indicates that the air quality may be unhealthy for sensitive groups.

July 18 was likely to see improved conditions, with moderate air quality.

What does a Code Red air quality alert mean?

A Code Red air quality alert indicates that the overall air quality within a day is likely to be unhealthy, with an AQI reading of 151 to 200.

Because the alert is based on the overall air quality for the day, there may be periods of time with better air quality. It’s a good idea to check the current air quality before going outside.

If you have to go outside while the AQI is at unhealthy levels, AirNow recommends avoiding strenuous activities or limiting your time outdoors. It may be a good idea to move outdoor activities indoors.

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection also encouraged residents to avoid using gas-powered lawn and garden equipment, reducing the use of fireplaces or wood stoves and avoiding the open burning of leaves, trash or other materials in an effort to reduce fine particulate matter air polution.

What does a Code Orange air quality alert mean?

A Code Orange air quality alert means that the overall air quality within a day is likely to be unhealthy for sensitive groups, with an AQI reading between 101 to 150.

Those with lung disease, older adults, children and teens should reduce their exposure by engaging in less strenuous activities or limiting their time outdoors when the current air quality is at its worst, according to AirNow.

Wildfire smoke impacting Pittsburgh’s air quality

There were more than 830 wildfires burning in Canada as of July 15, with over 100 considered out of control. Many of the fires impacting the Northeast’s air quality were in Ontario and Minnesota.

Smoke from the wildfires hit Pennsylvania on the evening of July 15, causing hazy skies in Pittsburgh. Conditions were expected to worsen on July 16 as more smoke entered the area, with smoke likely to linger through July 17.

Is Pittsburgh under a heat advisory?

While Pittsburgh was under a heat advisory on July 15, the advisory was no longer in effect on July 16. The high on July 16 was forecast at 93, though temperatures could possibly fall several degrees because of smoke cover, according to the National Weather Service.

Brandi D. Addison and Karina Zaiets contributed to this report.

Finch Walker is the Pittsburgh Connect Reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Contact Walker at FWalker@usatodayco.com. Instagram: @finchwalker_. X: @_finchwalker.

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