While thousands of hunters went out Monday on their first foray of deer hunting, state Game Commission staff zigzagged around hunting grounds to ensure rules were being enforced.

It’s no simple task. There are three wildlife conservation officers who enforce state game laws in Butler County. Randy Pilarcik, who patrols Butler County communities along the Interstate 79 corridor, oversees 420 square miles alone.

“I’m constantly on the move, unless I’m talking to hunters,” said Pilarcik, who’s been a wildlife conservation officer for the past 15 years.

He began his day around 7 a.m. Monday, and worked well into the evening, until hunters went home. The first day of hunting season is never routine and always unpredictable, he said.

“The typical day is not typical. It’s always a constant change,” Pilarcik said.

While things were going as scheduled in the morning, a violation complaint about 10:30 a.m. sent him from hunting enforcement in Moraine State Park to Harmony. He was originally planning to go to Lawrence County after leaving the park.

In Harmony, he had to makes sure hunters were shooting at least 150 yards away from houses and business. In this case, the hunter was within his proper boundaries, but was close to crossing them.

Meanwhile, back at Moraine State Park, many hunters began to take their lunch breaks before noon. Ray Heckathorn, along with his grandsons Brett Heckathorn, 16, and Isaiah Covey, 13, had been hunting since dawn with no deer to show for their effort. All of them wore neon orange vests and hats to make themselves visible against the backdrop of dull, bare woods.

“There hasn’t been much shooting here this year,” said Heckathorn of Butler. “I started hunting here when I was 25, and the deer population here is less than half now.”

He and his grandsons had only heard a couple shots in the distance the entire morning. But that’s all right with them.

“I love being out in the woods,” said Brett.

He and his grandfather consider themselves to be more outdoorsmen than hunters.

“If we were intent on getting a deer,” Heckathorn said, “we would’ve quit long ago.”

He said following the rules is essential to keeping the sport safe. Archery was allowed in some parts of the park, but they hadn’t brought their bows. They planned to scout out other hunting grounds in the afternoon.

Pilarcik said Moraine is a popular hunting spot there because it’s one of the biggest pieces of public property near Pittsburgh.

While he saw most hunters there Monday morning as compliant with the law, there have been unique circumstances in the past years that were hard to believe. A few years ago, he said a hunter shot a rifle from his car, and Pilarcik was driving directly behind him.

“It was a surprise to me and a surprise to them when they found out who was behind them,” he said with a laugh.

Nearly 1 million hunters are registered for this hunting season, and about three-fourths of those hunters went into the woods on Monday.

At least two hunting related accidents were reported statewide.

In Venango County, a hunter was shot in a leg and had to be taken to a hospital, said Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency spokesman Cory Angell.

The man, whose name was not immediately available, was accidentally shot by another hunter about 10:30 a.m. in Oakland Township, north of Franklin, according to a Venango County 911 dispatcher.

The Oakland Township Volunteer Fire Department and Community Ambulance tended to the injured hunter.

No other information was available from the Pennsylvania Game Commissioner this morning.

South of Lancaster, a 19-year-old man on his way to hunt died before sunrise when his vehicle struck two mules on a highway, police said.

Rifle deer hunting season continues through Dec. 14, and archery and flintlock deer hunting season begins after Christmas.