A pheasant looks outside his cage at Herb Thompson farm in Slippery Rock.

Safety concerns brought by hunters on the overlap of pheasant and deer seasons has the state Game Commissioner looking at some changes.

Recent complaints from hunters in Lancaster County spurred Jim Daley of Cranberry Township, one of the eight-member Game Commission board, into speaking against the overlap of some seasons in October.

The Game Commission discussed tweaks to various hunting regulations at a working group meeting earlier this month. Proposed changes include the lengths of multiple seasons and bag limits.

Daley, the commissioner for Region 1, which includes Butler County, said the overlap of hunting seasons for pheasant and deer overpopulates some popular hunting locations, increasing the possibility of accidents occurring.

Select hunting of deer occurs in October, which acts as a firearms deer season for those with special permits and a muzzleloader season for regular permit-holders. The final day of this deer season coincided with the first day of pheasant season this year.

The commission is also considering extending the moratorium on the post-Christmas grouse season into 2018. This year the Game Commission closed that season due to habitat loss and the spread of West Nile virus among the animals. Both problems continue to be an issue.

A full report appears in the Butler Eagle.