OHIO
OHIO
Primitive weapons deerseason starts Monday
The antlered-only special early primitive deer hunting season opens Monday and runs through Saturday at Salt Fork Wildlife Area in Guernsey County, Shawnee State Forest in Adams and Scioto counties, and Wildcat Hollow in Perry and Morgan counties.
As with any of the deer-gun seasons, hunters must wear a vest, coat, jacket or coveralls of hunter orange or camouflage hunter orange, even if hunting with a bow.
Legal hunting hours are a half-hour before sunrise to sunset. Hunters may use crossbows, longbows, muzzleloading rifles of at least .38 caliber or larger and muzzleloading shotguns of 10, 12, 16, 20, 28 and .410 gauge, using one ball per barrel.
Deer killed during must be taken to a designated primitive area check station for permanent tagging by 8 p.m. of the same day.
The check station for Salt Fork will be the area's headquarters located off U.S. 22. The Shawnee office near Friendship, off U.S. 52, will check deer taken in the forest, and Wolf Creek State Wildlife Area headquarters on State Route 78 will be the check station for Wildcat Hollow.
Urban deer permits are not valid for this bucks-only primitive season.
Hunting for wild turkey and all other wildlife species -- except coyote, wild boar and waterfowl -- is prohibited on these three public areas during the special primitive weapon deer hunting season.
Upland game season set
Cottontail rabbit, ring-necked pheasant, and bobwhite quail hunting seasons open Nov. 7.
Rabbits, pheasants, and quail may be hunted statewide sunrise to sunset. The daily bag limits for all three species remain at four rabbits, two pheasants (roosters only), and four quail per hunter.
Cottontail rabbit hunting continues through Feb. 29, 2004; ring-necked pheasant hunting is through Jan. 4, 2004. Both are closed only during the statewide deer-gun hunting season, Dec. 1-7.
Hunters are reminded that snowshoe hares are not legal game in Ohio and may not be taken. Recently reintroduced to northeast Ohio, snowshoe hares are brown early in the season, resembling cottontails.
To avoid confusion, portions of Geauga and Ashtabula counties will be closed to all rabbit hunting Nov. 7 through Dec. 8. The coats of most hares will have turned white by then, allowing for proper ID.
The designated area is bordered by U.S. Route 6 to the north, U.S. Route 322 to the south, Kile Road to the west, and State Route 534 to the east. Inclusion of Kile Road is a change from last year.
Bobwhite quail hunting is limited to 16 counties in southwest Ohio: Adams, Athens, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Highland, Jackson, Meigs, Montgomery, Pike, Preble, Ross, Scioto, Vinton and Warren. The season continues through Nov. 30.
PENNSYLVANIA
Fall antlerless deer firearms seasons open
Pennsylvania hunters are reminded that this year's seven-day early antlerless deer muzzleloader season is now open and continues Monday through Saturday.
The three-day special firearms antlerless deer season begins Thursday and wraps up Saturday.
To be eligible to participate in the special firearms antlerless season, hunters must have an antlerless deer license and fit in one of the following license categories: resident junior and senior license holders; persons who hold a disabled person permit to use a vehicle as a blind; residents who are serving on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces; those who qualify for license and fee exceptions under section 2706; and nonresident juniors and those 65 years of age or older.
Last year, fall muzzleloader hunters took about 15,000 deer, almost doubling the 2001 harvest, when they took about 8,000. During Pennsylvania's first fall antlerless muzzleloader season, hunters took about 12,000 deer.
Hunters are reminded that they may buy a muzzleloader license until Nov. 8. The license entitles them to hunt in both the fall antlerless muzzleloader season and the traditional flintlock season (Dec. 26-Jan. 10). The post-Christmas muzzleloader season remains unchanged: hunters may use only primitive muzzleloading long guns 44-caliber or larger with flintlock ignition systems and primitive sighting devices. Fiber-optic inserts are permitted in sighting devices.
Share the harvest
Hunters who are successful in the upcoming deer hunting seasons are encouraged by the Pennsylvania Game Commission to participate in the state's "Hunters Sharing the Harvest" program, which channels donations of venison to local food banks, soup kitchens and the needy.
To learn more about the program, visit www.sharedeer.org.
Information also can be found on the Game Commission's website (www.pgc.state.pa.us), by clicking on "Hunters & amp; Trappers" and selecting "Hunters Sharing the Harvest."