These Are the Good Old Days of Deer Hunting

In twenty years most Pennsylvania and New York hunters will look back and say the days we're living in were the good old days of deer hunting. That's not to say everything is perfect, because "perfect" never describes any period anyone calls "the good old days."

I suppose that's the way we're built. The human mind tends to look back, remember the good, and forget the bad. These days will have plenty of good to remember. With plenty of deer, plenty of tags, and plenty of public hunting lands with good habitat, we can hunt at very little cost and have high odds of success. Certainly the cost of a license is not a barrier to hunting because just about anything you do will cost more. (Scroll down to read.)

Chart at right: Arguably some of the best deer hunting, and surely the cheapest hunting, can be found right here in Pennsylvania and New York.

Steve Sorensen's bi-weekly newspaper column, "The Everyday Hunter," appears in the Forest County News Journal (Tionesta, PA), the Corry Journal (Corry, PA), both part of the Sample News Group. Also the Warren Times Observer (Warren, PA), and the Jamestown Post-Journal (Jamestown, NY), both in the Ogden Newspapers. If you'd like to see "The Everyday Hunter" in your local newspaper, have your editor contact me.

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To access more of Steve's writing on hunting topics, go to the home page of his blog, Mission: Hunter.

These Are the Good Old Days of Deer Hunting

Steve Sorensen

In most of the northeastern United States, and particularly in Pennsylvania and New York, hunters have it good. Someday, we will look back on the days we’re living in and remember them with nostalgia. If we don’t admit it now, we’ll admit it then—these are the good old days of deer hunting.

One big benefit Empire State and Keystone State hunters have is that the cost of hunting deer is low. Very low. Only two states in the Union put the cost of deer hunting lower than it is in Pennsylvania. New York is only a dollar and a few cents more. Most states with lower basic license fees usually charge extra for a deer permit. Many also assess habitat fees, conservation fees, and other add-ons only bureaucrats love.

The price of a hunting license is no barrier to joining the ranks of hunters. Is there anything you can do for less money than you pay for a hunting license? You can’t fill up your gas tank, but you can hunt thousands of public forested acres near Onoville’s Horseshoe Inn or in Warren County’s sprawling Allegheny National Forest. Those properties are a small part of the public land that’s available. (You can eat a great dinner at the Horseshoe for less, but only if you fail to leave a tip—and a generous tip is always well-deserved at the Horseshoe.)

Two tickets to the latest theater movie will cost less than $22, but only if you avoid the concession stand. A single ticket to a Pirates game or a Bills game will cost many times more than a full season of hunting, but for just $22.00 in New York, and $20.97 in Pennsylvania, you can grab your rifle and go deer hunting day after day until you wear yourself out. And, you have a great chance of getting a buck. Not only that, you’re a participant and not just a spectator.

Both states have plenty of deer, so antlerless deer tags are plentiful. In the 44 states that have a season on whitetail deer, Pennsylvania and New York rank in the top ten for average whitetail deer harvest over the last five years. According to Deer & Deer Hunting magazine, Pennsylvania’s five-year average (second only to Texas) is 410,878. New York ranks nineth with a five-year average of 226,328 deer. (These figures tally bucks and does, harvested by firearm and archery.) Despite the complaints of some hunters that we don’t have enough deer, deer numbers and deer harvests in New York and Pennsylvania are as strong or stronger than ever.

Far down the list is the next closest state in the northeast, New Jersey, at number 30 with a five-year average of 45,520 deer. In what northeastern state does it cost the most to hunt deer in? You guessed it—the Garden State charges $66.00 to go deer hunting. Maybe fellow NY and PA deer hunters who complain about the high cost of a hunting license aren’t doing their homework.

Back when I started hunting, a Pennsylvania hunting license cost $5.20. A calculator tells me $5.20 has inflated to $52.70 today (that’s approaching 1000%), but the price of today’s hunting license works out to just over 30% inflation in the same time frame. With inflation the way has been in the last few years, both states are doing a great job holding the line on hunting license prices. Who can argue that we’re not getting a great deal?

With longer seasons and more opportunities, we hunters need to see how good we have it. We have turkeys, bears, and other species in abundance. Small game populations rise and fall, but that’s always true. You can hunt most species with just the basic license. 

It’s worth noting that hunting regulations aren’t perfect, and they never will be. Wildlife biologists and agency decision makers have ongoing challenges, and they forever will. Low license fees aren’t the only standard we should judge by, but low license fees are undeniable. So, let’s start singing “These are the good old days” because it’s hard to imagine it being much better.

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When “The Everyday Hunter” isn’t hunting, he’s thinking about hunting, talking about hunting, dreaming about hunting, writing about hunting, or wishing he were hunting. If you want to tell Steve exactly where your favorite hunting spot is, contact him through his website, www.EverydayHunter.com.