DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. — Statewide bowhunting for white-tailed deer officially opens on Saturday, and as hunters dust off their equipment and prepare to climb back in their deer stands, state officials predict a record number of hunters for the 2023 season.
“We’re running at a slight increase in sales compared to last year, I can tell you last year we had over 800,000 hunters statewide,” said Travis Lau, the communications director for the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
Lau attributes the high number of hunters to bowhunting’s growing popularity.
“I think the archery season in general provides a great opportunity to get out there and enjoy the woods and also fill some tags,” Lau said.
According to Lau, hunters can be separated into three categories: those who hunt to spend time outdoors, those who use hunting to spend time with friends and family, and those who hunt for sport and for meat. Hunters are expected to find no shortage of game.
“We have stable populations, which says to me that hunters can expect a lot of the same in terms of deer in numbers that they’re accustomed to or that they have seen in recent years,” Lau said.
For business owners like Kyle Moody, the co-owner of Bowhunters Superstore in York County, bowhunting season also brings in customers.
“I’d say the end of July, the beginning of August it started really ramping up, guys blowing off their bow cases and starting to bring them in and getting ready for bow season, and the month of September has really been crazy,” Moody said.
Hunters have a variety of bows to choose from, including compound and crossbows. However, each bow has a different degree of difficulty. Beginning bowhunters might struggle more using a compound bow. Bowhunters Superstore allows customers to test fire most bows to find the right model for them.
“A lot of guys like shooting bows but a lot of older guys had surgery on their shoulders, so they weren’t able to pull a bow back anymore, the crossbow market is definitely growing and growing rapidly,” Moody said.
Moody expects bowhunting will continue to grow in popularity over the next several years.
“There’s a lot of new tech side stuff on the bow industry so that’s cool to see and getting the younger kids involved is definitely important.”
Bowhunting lasts for seven weeks. Hunters can continue to apply for an antler and antlerless hunting license throughout the year. The Pa. Game Commission requires hunters complete an in-person or online class before receiving the license.