5 Things Pennsylvania Deer Hunters Do on the First Day of Rifle Season That Baffle Everyone Else
In a lot of Pennsylvania households, the Saturday after Thanksgiving belongs to deer season.
These are the things Pennsylvania deer hunters do on the first day of rifle season that baffle everyone else.
Note: This is general information, not legal advice. Hunting rules and seasons are subject to change, so confirm the current requirements with the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
1. Hunting From Camp
About a quarter of the state’s firearm deer hunters hunted from a camp, according to four Game Commission surveys between 2011 and 2024.
For them, rifle season opens Nov. 28, the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
One Forest County camp has hosted hunters for opening day since the early 1970s.
At that camp’s 2024 opener, the crew gathered by a bonfire out back, warming their legs.
Trading a holiday weekend at home for a camp is a choice some non-hunters struggle to understand.
2. Heading Out Before Sunrise
On opening day in 2024, two hunters at that camp were layering up in the kitchen at 4 a.m. before heading into 15-degree weather for hours, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
An alarm that early on a Saturday is hard to explain to anyone who isn’t going.
Legal hunting hours begin half an hour before sunrise and end half an hour after sunset.
3. Wearing 250 Square Inches of Orange
Regular firearms deer season requires hunters to wear 250 square inches of daylight fluorescent orange on the head, chest and back combined.
An orange hat and vest satisfies the rule, as long as the orange is visible from 360 degrees.
You have to wear it while moving, starting one hour before legal hunting hours begin, so on opening morning it goes on in the dark.
The rule applies from the Nov. 28 opener through the season’s last day, Dec. 13.
What Counts Toward the Orange Rule
The orange rule for regular firearms deer season counts camouflage orange, as long as it totals 250 square inches of orange.
If you hunt from a blind or enclosed tree stand, you must also display at least 100 square inches of orange within 15 feet.
Hunters using archery equipment have to meet the same orange rule during these firearms seasons.
4. Counting Antler Points
Antler rules set which bucks deer hunters can take on opening day.
For adult hunters in most wildlife management units (WMUs), a buck with three points to a side, counting the brow tine, is legal to harvest.
WMUs 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B and 2D are the exceptions, where the three points can’t include the brow tine.
If you hunt in one of those five units, your count changes.
Junior license holders, mentored youth, some disabled hunters and resident active-duty military can take a buck with two points on one antler or a spike three inches or longer.
Psst! How much do you know about deer season? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Deer Season IQ
Answer these questions on Pennsylvania deer season, harvests and hunting rules. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
In the National Deer Association’s 2025 Deer Report, Pennsylvania ranked No. 1 in the nation for what?
5. Tagging the Ear
The Game Commission said in 2025 that deer hunters have to put a valid tag on the ear, not an antler, before moving the deer.
The tag must be filled out with a ballpoint pen.
Hunters can use a large safety pin to attach it, since the pin won't damage the ear.
Neither a ballpoint pen nor a safety pin is what you'd expect to find in a hunter's gear bag.
Most hunters then have 10 days to report the harvest to the Game Commission.
Matching Your License to the Deer
Under the Game Commission's 2026-27 seasons, hunters may take one antlered deer per hunting license year.
Antlerless deer, such as does, can be taken only with the required antlerless license or permit.
Regular firearms season covers both kinds of deer on the same dates, statewide, so you can take either one from the Nov. 28 opener through Dec. 13.
You can take only the deer your license covers, so check it before you leave camp.
Saturday Switch
Opening day of rifle season didn't always fall on a weekend.
Before 2019, it came on the first Monday after Thanksgiving.
In 2019, the Game Commission voted 5-3 to move it to the first Saturday after the holiday.
In late January 2026, the Board of Game Commissioners voted 6-3 against opening the season a week earlier, on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.
Commissioners who voted no said they wanted more time to gather hunter input.
For this season, you can count on the opener staying on Saturday, Nov. 28.
Sunday After the Opener
Hunters who spend opening day at camp can head back out Sunday morning, Nov. 29.
The Game Commission's 2026-27 seasons include any Sundays that fall inside their dates.
Sunday, Dec. 13, is the final day of regular firearms season.
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