Aug 1, 2020 2 min read

If good for other states,why not Pennsylvania?

I read with interest and concern George Block’s columns of July 12 and 19.He states back when people just hunted with a stick and string, referring to a recurve or long bow. There are still many of us who hunt with one of these bows.

Traditional archery is all over the United States with many shoots for recurve or long bows. There are many traditional clubs and dealers selling this type of archery equipment. There is a local one in Avella.

George states that 49% of the bucks are harvested in archery season. I’m sure this might be accurate but he doesn’t state the biggest reason for this was legalizing the cross bow. We have been archery hunting the rut in Pennsylvania for several years and the complaint is that another six or seven days were added. I also hunt in West Virginia and Ohio. West Virginia’s archery season starts in early October and runs until Dec 31. Since the early 1970s, I don’t ever remember not hunting in the rut. Ohio archery starts in early October and runs until at least late January. Hunting all the way through the rut.

New York, New Jersey and Maryland allow archery hunting during the rut. I would guess that most other states allow archery hunting in the rut. I guess my question is, if it’s good enough for all the surrounding states, why not Pennsylvania?

Chuck Homitz

Houston