It could be called the holiday after the Thanksgiving holiday when Pennsylvania’s firearms deer hunting season opens statewide Saturday, Nov. 29, and runs through Dec. 13 - that includes two Sundays, Nov. 30 and Dec. 7.

The Saturday firearms opener didn’t come without criticism as in the past it would always take place the Monday after Thanksgiving. A lot of hunters weren’t happy with the change for a variety of reasons. But the Saturday opener stands.

At that time more than a half million orange-clad hunters take to the woodlands of Penn’s Woods in hope of bagging a buck, and in the least, at doe. Or maybe both for every WMU-specific antlerless license. No other single day on the state’s hunting calendar is as anticipated or busy, says the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC). And it puts more hunters in the woods more often than any other species.

Last year, across the 2024-25 deer seasons, hunters took an estimated 476,880 deer of which 175,280 were bucks and 301,600 were does. As always, the two-week firearms season accounted for the largest chunk of those 283,760 deer harvested as 86,530 were bucks and 197,230 were doe.

Deer season is also a conservation method as hunters keep deer in balance with their habitat while feeding themselves and hungry neighbors.

Last year’s harvest alone led to a record 283,789 pounds of healthy venison being donated to the Hunters Sharing the Harvest program. Hunters donate their venison at no cost to any one of more than 100 licensed butcher shops across 56 counties. The hunter pays for the cost of butchering and packaging and donates the meat through regional food banks with Feeding Pennsylvania and Hunger-free Pennsylvania program.

According Hunters Sharing the Harvest Executive Director Randy Ferguson, last year’s donations equated to about 1.1 million servings of lean, nutritious venison for individuals and families.

The National Deer Association (NDA), an advocacy group working to ensure the future of wild deer, released some interesting numbers. Their Deer Report has Pennsylvania ranked No. 1 in buck harvest per square mile and antlerless harvest per square mile, and No. 2 in overall antlerless harvest and No. 3 in overall buck harvest and antlerless deer taken. And that’s no fluke says the NDA, as Pennsylvania has consistently ranked in the top five if not top three, in every category for more than a decade now.

NDA goes on to report that once upon a time most of the antlered deer harvested in Pennsylvania were 18 months old or younger and carrying their first set of antlers. Now, with the antler-point restriction that limit hunters to harvest bucks with a minimum of points, about two of every three bucks now taken are 2.5 years or older. They’re not only bigger, but heavier sporting impressive headgear as well.

EXTENDED BEAR

SEASON

While the firearms deer season is going on properly licensed hunters can take a bear in some WMUs. The extended bear season opens Nov. 29 and continues on Sunday, Nov. 30, then Dec. 1-6 in WMUs 3A, 3B, 3C, 4C, 4E and 5A. The season also is held in WMUs 2B, 5B, 5C and 5D when it opens Nov. 29 and continues on Sunday, Nov. 30, then again Dec. 1-13, including Sunday, Dec. 7.