Always look forward to the first day of archery. I won't hunt my best stands opening day but I will try to get the kids in front of bucks. 1 of my sons, my nephew and one of their friends are all eagerly awaiting the opener. My wife even had her Mathews out shooting.

The stands are hung, the broadheads are sharp.

Good luck to all you guys heading out.

Good luck to you as well. I'll be in Sullivan County. I wish it was going to be colder

Have to work, but I will be out monday

I don’t go out until the middle of October when the bigger ones start moving.

Calling for a high around 74 degrees. Temps look to stay on the warmer side for the first week.

At least I won't have to fire up the wood stove just yet!

There ain't no deer in Sullivan County. Well not many.

I'm west of Laporte and in the past two months all I have on the trail cams is bear and coyotes.

lol

Good luck!

Looks like 2 of our areas are burnt for the opener.

Buddies property I've been taking care of for archery privileges for 10 years. His nephew and friends want to rifle hunt it so they stumbled through last weekend 4 of them "scouting". Im sure any of the good bucks are long gone. They don't tolerate pressure well in this spot. I'm extremely picky about entry/exit and what winds to hunt it on.

Today my neighbor comes over and has a roll of posted signs in his hand. Been out hanging signs for 2 days. No wonder my cell cams have dried up. Says he has buddies coming in to build him a permanent stand this weekend. Wtf you had all summer??? I worked with this guy to plant corn in exchange for hunting permission and now this. Regardless of what he does on his place it will affect the deer movement on my place.

So much for hard work putting in plots, getting stands hung early and staying out of the woods to leave the deer alone.

Yes I'm complaining... maybe bitching.. yes it's their land and they can do as they wish and I'm a guest on theirs. I get it..And yes at least it's early things may calm down and get good for the rut.. just wanted to vent a little.

We will still be out there hunting somewhere. Hoping for some luck. Lots of stands up but didn't want to blow everything up opening weekend. Sure looks like that will be the case though.

Ill be in Sullivan Co also. Some nice deer around this year!

Godd luck!

Yeah you'll be in Hillsgrove just like me. I know the Ogdonia Camp

Ill be in forksville, but next week!

Cool. I hunt Forksville too

Nephew and I came to an area with good white oak acorns.

3 buck and 2 does for me. The one 8pt got the blood pumping a bit. But he is just a little smaller than what I'm looking for.

Nephew saw a spike and a bear.

Great morning so far. Still in the stands

Good luck.

-Ken

Without a lease or your own land you are totally at the mercy of the landowner and his notions (and often relatives). I’ve been hunting totally on Public since 2017. It has it’s own challenges, but there’s venison in my freezer and quite often I have a square mile of good habitat all to myself, only 20 minutes away. Had tag soup the first year but still had plenty on hand from three killed in 2016. Six taken since then, all I can use really, and it’s very early in this season..

Farmland is great because the crops draw the deer, but, cover is often limited and as you note, it’s easy to run the deer off unless the fields are bordered by big woods. A bad wind can leave you sitting at home instead of merely changing your approach.

Evening hunt for me, had a doe and 2 fawns feeding on the acorns. Then a shooter passed by at 80 yards. Didn't take gru t call or would ha e thrown a couple soft grunts at him.

Wife had 2 bucks feeding and sparring at 15. The bigger of the 2 was an 8pt. Fed straight at her, never gave her a shot and ran out of light.

My son and nephew went to a different area in the evening and shot 2 does.

Quite an eventful opener

Been slow for a few hunts but the cooler weather and full moon shows the deer moving again

Heading back to Susquehanna co. this afternoon. Have a bear tag and two doe permits. One of the advantages of being an old fart is the three day senior hunt.

Game Commission publication says 40% of Bucks have been killed by archers before rifle season. About time we let the rifle hunters have first go.

Didn’t say anything about the Does.. you boys keep pounding them and there is soon to be a revolt.

And keep beetching about how those who own the land are messing up your hunt. While your preferential treatment removes 40% of the what is available to the rifle hunters.
And you have a 2 month??? season to hit the right day(s).

Correction: 36 % of the Buck kill....Archery Bucks...59,550.Total Buck Kill....163,240. For 36%...

This a major increase since the original archery season was implemented based on the argument getting a Deer with a recurve was very difficult. Which it was. Now that 61% of the archery kill is with crossbows...It is no longer your Granddad's difficult short archery hunt..

https://lancasteronline.com/sports/...4f9bf4a-ba75-11e8-bcaf-8b4d704746d0.html

My wife saw a large Bear on Saturday but it was a little over a hundred yards which is beyond her comfort range with her open sighted muzzleloader. I've had a tough week so far having only seen a spike buck

Shot this bugger back on Nov 4th. He sure liked to fight by the looks of his rack and the hole in his hind end from an antler...

we have been watching sevral good bucks. now the woman we buy pheasants from is whining that she wants all pheasants gone by thanksgiving. so the bog guys in our club are releasing birds on opening day of Bear, despite everyone else being pissed and saying to hold off on it. retort was well she will sell our birds, counter retort: we have alrady paid for them let her sell them and we charge her, then sue her

im only a bit farther than a stones throw from there

opening day I plan to be overlooking a cut corn field. usually I have my daughter with me but this year she ahs an all day dance rehearsal. she is going to go with me on the second day and we will probably sit in an elevated blind. the first Monday will likely find me sitting on the uphill side of some thermal bedding cover watching some escape routes

Cool!

Congratulations.

Tend to agree with battue on the crossbow impact in PA. What many predicted would happen with full inclusion, has come true.

Not really a factor where I hunt in rifle season, primarily because there isn't much activity around there in archery seasons, never has been. So the number of bucks remaining for rifle seasons remains pretty good. Never handled a crossbow, no interest in them..If I can shoot the compound well enough to suit me, I bow hunt. Past the 3/4 century mark and shoulders get worse each passing year.

I just wait for rifle season. Best wishes for all those heading out this season.

The majority of big mature bucks in my camp's neighborhood are killed by archery hunters or in the other early seasons. All these early seasons, leased and posted timberlands, and a vastly reduced hunter participation in the once storied PA rifle season has really changed things.

I'm in Sullivan County, PA which was always a big hunting county. There were always bow hunters in the county but in the past gun hunters out numbered them by a big number. Not so today. The old hunting camps are disappearing being replaced by private homes and younger people and those younger people tend to be bow hunters if they hunt at all.

I am seeing way more big bucks being taken by bow hunters than gun hunters in the past few years and I think that trend will continue.

To your point due to all of the new neighborhoods going up the only thing you can do is bowhunt. I know where I am at it is all slowly turning over to bowhunting only due to the proximity of houses. I know a guy who has a farm here and he can't gun hunt on it due to how close the houses are now.

Crossbows have changed archery season forever. I welcome hunters to the game I just disagree with crossbows for the healthy and able bodied.

Someday my archery hunting will be done with a crossbow. But only when I can no longer draw 45-50lbs bows.