Highlights from Pennsylvania Game Commission's Quarterly Meeting

HARRISBURG, PA - The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today gave final approval to hunting and trapping seasons and bag limits for the 2020-21 license year. Highlights include:

• Expanding Sunday hunting opportunities on three days – Sunday, Nov. 15 for archery deer hunting, Sunday, Nov. 22 for bear hunting during the bear firearms season, and Sunday, Nov. 29 for deer hunting during the firearms deer season.

• Adopting a 14-day concurrent firearms deer season for antlered and antlerless deer in 10 Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) and retaining a split-season in the remaining 13 WMUs.

• Extending the statewide archery deer season to end Nov. 20, giving bowhunters the opportunity to take advantage of peak and post-rut activity.

• Opening squirrel season statewide on Sept. 12 to create more opportunities for younger hunters to get afield.

• Shifting the statewide general bear season to run from Saturday through Tuesday –adding an additional Sunday opportunity for bear hunters.

• Bringing back a three-day Thanksgiving turkey season, running Wednesday through Friday, in select Wildlife Management Units (WMUs); removing the Thanksgiving turkey season in WMUs 1A, 2A, 4A, 4B, 4D and 4E, but making the regular season two weeks (Oct. 31-Nov. 14) instead of one.

• Increasing the bear hunting opportunities for archers by adding a week to the archery bear season and creating an overlap in the first week with the muzzleloader deer and bear seasons.

• Moving the start of the extended bear seasons to Monday of the first week of firearms deer season in all WMUs with extended bear seasons.

• Permitting either-sex pheasant hunting statewide, outside of Wild Pheasant Recovery Areas.

• Opening bobcat hunting and trapping seasons in WMU 2B, and river otter trapping seasons in WMUs 1A, 1B and 2F.

• Increasing the season bag limit for beavers from 40 to 60 in WMUs 1A and 1B.

More stories on these highlights from the quarterly meeting will be posted throughout the week on trueblueoutdoors.com.