Pennsylvania Archery Deer Season Opens Oct. 3

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s statewide archery deer season opens Oct. 3 and runs through Nov. 20, giving hunters their first major opportunity of the fall deer season.

Hunters may harvest one antlered deer per license year, along with an antlerless deer with each required license or permit. Archery season will reopen Dec. 26 and continue through Jan. 24, 2027.

“It’s hunting season here in Pennsylvania and we have a lot to look forward to in the weeks and months ahead,” said Steve Smith, Pennsylvania Game Commission executive director. “Thank you to all our hunters for being on the front lines of conservation. Good luck, have fun, and hunt safely.”

More Sundays Available for Hunting

The 2026-27 season is the first Pennsylvania hunting season following the expansion of Sunday hunting to include all Sundays that fall within a season’s start and end dates, with the exception of migratory game bird seasons.

Many seasons that previously ended on Saturdays now extend through Sunday. Sunday hunting is permitted on state game lands and state forests, with some limitations in state parks and state preserves.

Tree Stand Safety

The Game Commission is reminding archery hunters using tree stands to take precautions before leaving the ground.

Hunters are encouraged to wear a full-body safety harness or belt, inspect stands for missing or broken parts before each use and select healthy trees capable of supporting the hunter’s weight. Hunters are also encouraged to hunt with a partner, have an emergency plan and carry a whistle or other signaling device.

Non-hunters using state game lands are also reminded to wear required fluorescent orange during hunting seasons. The Game Commission says non-hunters must wear a fluorescent orange hat or 250 square inches of fluorescent orange on the head, chest and back combined while using state game lands during the period specified in the 2026-27 Hunting & Trapping Digest.

Hunters Reminded to Report Harvests

Successful hunters are required to report their harvests. Reports can be submitted online through HuntFishPA, by phone at 1-800-838-4431 or by mail using the harvest report card included in the 2026-27 Hunting & Trapping Digest.

The Game Commission uses harvest information to help wildlife biologists make future management decisions and determine tag allocations.

New CWD Regulations

The Game Commission also is reminding hunters about changes to Chronic Wasting Disease regulations for the 2026-27 hunting seasons.

Hunters are no longer prohibited from transporting harvested deer, including high-risk deer parts, between locations. Instead, hunters statewide are required to dispose of high-risk deer parts through a commercial trash service.

High-risk parts may be left at the harvest site. If the carcass is moved, the high-risk parts must be placed in the trash.

The regulatory prohibition on cervid urine-based attractants also has been removed. State law changed in 2025 to make the attractants legal, while the Game Commission’s executive director has authority to establish targeted restrictions on feeding deer and other wild cervids in response to CWD.

“The Game Commission’s new regulations are preventative in nature,” said Andrea Korman. “If high-risk deer parts are disposed in the trash stream, it eliminates the possibility they will introduce CWD to a new area, and otherwise limits the disease’s spread.”

The Game Commission continues to offer free CWD testing in areas with detections through head collection bins. The agency also is developing a sample-kit program that would provide free testing to hunters statewide.

The agency announced four additional CWD-positive detections, including three involving captive facilities and one involving a wild deer. The captive detections were in Butler, Warren and Lycoming counties. The wild detection involved a road-killed deer in Pringle Borough, Luzerne County.

The Game Commission recently updated its Mapping Center with a mobile-friendly interface, faster access to maps and information, live data from agency sources and improved search and navigation features.

Hunters can find additional information about deer hunting, CWD regulations, harvest reporting and the 2026-27 Hunting & Trapping Digest through the Pennsylvania Game Commission.