The official Pennsylvania archery season opens in Butler County and across the commonwealth Sept. 29.

All Pennsylvania hunters who have a valid 2018-19 archery license are eligible to start hunting for both bucks and does (only in areas that your doe permit allows). In Pennsylvania, only one buck per hunter is the rule while one doe per license obtained is the rule.

Archery is one of the most popular hunting opportunities in many states and is a great time to be in the woods. The antler restriction rules still apply for hunters with 3 points up and a brow tine to be a legal buck in our WMU’s in western counties.

Bows have restrictions as well as the broadheads that hunters use. Bows must have a minimum draw weight of 35 pounds and have a broadhead that has an outside diameter of 7/8 inch and may not exceed 3.25 inches in length. Crossbows have a minimum draw length of 125 pounds and the bolt used with crossbows requires a broadhead with the same dimensions as all other bows.

Generally, the compound bow, the crossbow, the recurve bow and the long bow are the bows of choice for deer hunting in this state. All of these are legal to use and all require the hunter to be proficient in the use and accuracy of their bows no matter which type of bow you choose to hunt with.

The history of the bow and arrow for use in hunting and warfare goes back centuries in Mongolia, Egypt and Medieval England. Greeks and Persians had bows for warfare and hunting. Egyptians were given the credit for the first composite bows, which were made of many different materials.

Their bows were shorter for use in chariot warfare which required easy movement while rolling down the enemy before them. England was big on the crossbow that was powerful enough to pierce through armor of enemy knights and soldiers, as regular bows did not have enough propulsion velocity to do so.

North America’s native warriors began their use of bows and arrows comparatively late as the plain’s natives were the first to use the long bow. When the horse was introduced to the native Americans by the Europeans in the 1400s, the bows were also changed to be better utilized by warriors on horseback. They became shorter and more maneuverable and able to fire much faster by a skilled archer. These bows became the first composite bows on our continent and were made of wood, horn and antler.

The making of a bow was a complex job that took time and a considerable amount of skill. The string for the bow came from a back or leg tendon, from rawhide or from animal gut. They also could be made from plant fibers such as nettles, milkweed or the inner bark of the basswood. Plant materials produced a higher quality string, but involved much more work to produce. Arrows were made from a variety of shoots or reeds or wooden shafts. They needed to be heated, weighted and straightened to be accurate and consistent.

The feather fletching came from turkey feathers or geese but could also be made from other birds such as eagles or hawks. Arrowheads were usually flint or antler and then later metal after trading with the Europeans began.

Eventually, the use of bows and arrows gave way to the use of firearms but for hunting and stealth warfare.

In today’s archery, the equipment has improved and is much more readily available, but the shooting skills need to be the same: the hunting skills need to be sharp and the woods craft needs to be honed if you expect to harvest a deer in the archery season.

The archery industry is a multimillion-dollar business and has hundreds of thousand consumers in the U.S. Archers use traditional bows, handmade bows and the high-tech equipment that is evolving every year.

Some reminders for all hunters; watch your handling of broadheads as they are razor sharp, be careful in tree stands and use safety belts. Every year, hunters fall from stands or ladders with deadly results.

Let others know where you are hunting and locations that they can find you. Wear orange when combined seasons take place when entering or leaving the woods. Wear insect repellant for ticks and check yourself carefully at day’s end. Lyme Disease is nothing to take lightly.

If you do find a tick has infected you, seek medical attention immediately to help fend off serious complications from the bite.

Jay Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle