Pa. Game Commission proposes change to start of firearms deer season

Update: On January 24, 2026, the Board of Commissioners voted 6-to-3 to reject the proposal. The commissioners who voted no said they want to revisit the proposal once they gather more data, such as the number of college-age hunters.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission is considering moving the beginning of firearms deer season to the Saturday before Thanksgiving, changing it from the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Speaking Thursday on the commission’s “Call of the Outdoors” podcast, Executive Director Stephen Smith said they’re considering shifting the season a week earlier to give younger hunters more opportunities. Hunting license sales have steadily declined in Pennsylvania over the last decade.

“If you look, we know a lot of colleges, a lot of schools give most, if not all, of that week off before Thanksgiving,” Smith said.

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Smith said moving the start date will also make it easier for hunters who travel, since they won’t be as preoccupied with the Thanksgiving holiday.

If the Game Commission moves up the start of firearms deer season, the firearms bear season would also move up by a week. Some seasons would be reduced, such as early bear muzzleloader, archery and special firearms seasons.

“It would be absolutely a horrible idea,” said Richard Merritts, a hunter in Antis Township in Blair County.

Merritts said he’s concerned about the other seasons that would be affected and would rather see a return to the traditional Monday opener.

“There’s a lot of family traditions in western Pennsylvania that have been altered,” said Terri Lease, a hunter in Sinnemahoning in Cameron County. “Businesses are losing money because people used to come to camp and spend Saturday looking for their spot and going out to the establishment in the evening.”

Lease pushed back on the Game Commission’s claims that younger hunters would go out more if the season was moved to the week before Thanksgiving. She said she never had problems taking off school to go hunting while growing up.

Lease also said she’s worried about an overlapping bear and deer season.

“Growing up in a hunting family, a lot of times, guys like to go to camp for bear season, and now what happens when women don’t really want to go to beer season camp but they go rifle hunting?” Lease said.

The Game Commission is asking for public input on their proposal ahead of their next board meetings on January 23 and 24. Any decision they make at this month’s meeting is preliminary and won’t be finalized until their April meetings.