The 2011 Edition of the Pennsylvania Buck Season will open up on Monday at daybreak, around 7:21 a.m.

The weather forecast calls for warm weather in the 50’s and a chance of rain. I’ve had about enough rain this past week when we tried our luck in the season opener in West Virginia. The proverbial creek did rise while we were hunting and we did have some hunters stranded on the other side of the high water.

Weather can play havoc with hunting success or failure and our camps’ success surely reflected the havoc as we ended up with low numbers of harvested deer.

The best days in Pennsylvania for hunter success over the years have been the opening Monday and the two Saturdays of the two-week season. The other days in between them see a drop off of the numbers of active hunters and the corresponding success rates.

Over the years, I have had my best luck on the first day and the last Saturday. My wife used to claim that I waited until the last day to harvest a deer just so that I could be in the woods. It could be no further from the truth as each day passing brings higher odds for a filled tag.

On Monday in WMU 2D, it’s bucks only while WMU 1A is either antlered or antlerless. A new wrinkle is that statewide all bucks for adult hunters must have three points on the main beam, including the main beam tip. The eye guards do not count for determining if the buck is legal.

This is how the western states have counted their antler points for years.

Remember that the blaze orange requirements are at their maximum for rifle season. Hunters must wear orange on their heads, chests and backs. There is no leniency from the PGC for those who ignore the rules or make mistakes. Safety rules save lives and the purpose of the blaze orange is hunter safety! I never met a deer yet that was worth someone’s life!

The deer forecast is promising with plenty of deer being seen in various areas of the county. With a poor acorn crop, the deer will be feeding in forage areas, agricultural sites and food plots featuring choice grasses.

Apple trees and other fruit trees have had bumper crops this year and we know that deer love apples, pears and crabapples. The first day will find deer way out of their normal patterns and these locations will be better later in the season when hunting activities calm down.

One of the nicest bucks that I ever harvested was late in the season in a crabapple thicket. My brother and I were hunting an area that had acres of crabapple thickets and the trees were heavy with a crop of the tart green apples.

They were covering the ground and still hung in the trees like ornaments. The deer trails leading in and out of the thicket looked like a deer highway and some of the tracks we spied had the look of a large deer.

We entered the thicket from different directions and slowly hunted the wild orchard. Several times, I saw the movement of brown shapes filtering through the thick trees.

I skirted around the thicket and entered it with the wind in my face. I knelt down and picked a deer trail to watch. The thicket looked different from this elevation and it gave me a clear view of the deer runways.

Suddenly, almost out of nowhere came several deer. My plan was working as they approached my position without detecting me. To my delight, a rack buck came towards me as well.

The buck slowed down as he was approaching my position. I was concealed and the wind for once was a friend. Movement from my brother distracted the buck and he closed the distance and into my range.

That was a team effort and one of the many ways that hunters and deer will match wits over the next two weeks.

Regardless of who wins out in the battle of wits, you can still be part of the long-time tradition of deer hunting in Pennsylvania. Happy Hunting!