Dec 8, 2023 5 min read

By Dave Bates

For the Observer-Reporter

I tried to get the whitetail’s general impressions on the first day of deer season controversy but he really didn’t seem interested in talking about it. It might have had something to do with the fact that he was deceased, but I felt obligated as a reporter to seek information from all sides of the story.

After inquiring a second time, his silence appeared final. When we got him back from Virgili’s butcher shop the next day, the back straps that my wife cooked up in the cast iron skillet, nonetheless, tasted magnificently. The hot Italian sausage mixed with a touch of pork fat tasted nearly as good in the spaghetti sauce the next evening.

So where to go for a man-on-the-street perspective for this week’s column? I guess this one is up to you and me. Honestly, the decision ultimately rests with the state of Pennsylvania. Whether Sunday hunting and the date of the first day (Saturday currently or Monday traditionally) will be decided by our electorate and the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners with a little input from Joe Hunter. In all seriousness, if you have strong feelings on this matter I encourage you to contact your state representative and senator and make your feelings known. Along with antlered and antlerless deer seasons to run concurrently, there is much fodder for argument’s sake. I’ll limit today’s column to the starting date of the first day.

After much consternation I have come to the conclusion that I really don’t care whether deer season begins on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving or whether it falls on a Monday. I doubt that many of my readers were waiting for my final word to form their own opinions on the matter. How’s that for fence sitting?

I like to hunt and if the whitetail season begins on a Saturday, then so be it. Do I enjoy the fact that I get an extra weekend with the Saturday opener? Yes I do. Is it nice to have the day after Thanksgiving to prepare for the coming hunt? Yes, it is. Will I hunt on Sunday? I just might. Do we really need three days to travel to camp, prepare the accommodations and engage in “camp activities” (yes, this means what you think it means)? Certainly.

I’m in favor of anything that is good for hunting and hunters. I enjoy going to camp. I wish I had grown up with that privilege/tradition and its accompanying memories but I was not afforded that experience. This is a great time to encourage those of you with hunting camps and no one to leave them to, I am available for adoption being an orphan since age 43. I would gladly have you take me in so that your hunting legacy is not lost. I’m still able to split wood, fix leaky roofs and drag deer albeit the shortest of distances. But I digress.

Does having the additional weekend to initiate the hunt make it easier on the working man? I think it might. Many younger folks are working jobs that do not start out with two weeks of paid vacation and these individuals are already committed to family vacations and other activities that tend to reduce their time afield. When it comes down to it, how many hunters actually go to camp for more than a two- or three-day stint? I’d be curious to know the numbers. I’ve also heard concerns with lost revenues from businesses in hunting areas. This may be my least understood area since accurate numbers are so hard to obtain. It certainly makes sense.

Conversely, do I feel that the deer need a day off? I sort of do. Fair chase and other sporting concerns considered, ju I figure if we get one day off out of every seven, and I am a proponent of such, then maybe our deer deserve it as well. I tend to think they do. Then again, ours is not the world in which our fathers were raised. Many jobs are seven days per week and do not offer the traditional Saturday/Sunday off. I ask myself if it is fair to leave out the folks who are subject to such scheduling concerns? No, it’s not.

Lastly, at the risk of starting a Holy War, I’d put forth religious convictions as yet another factor to consider. Should you and I have the right to hunt according to our religious beliefs? Certainly. How dare I subject you to my limited scope? Or vice versa?

So where does this leave us on the continuum? I’m afraid it leaves us with more questions and opinions than answers. And you know what they say about opinions?

I hope you have enjoyed a great hunting season thus far and have a happy holiday season as well. I’d be curious to hear your opinions. Shoot me a line and let me know what I’m missing.

Dave Bates writes a weekly outdoors column for the observer-Reporter. He can be reached at alphaomegashootingsolutions@gmail.com