Spotlighting or spotting is a popular pastime for those who enjoy watching or hunting animals. But what exactly is it and what are the rules? For outdoor people, this week includes more holidays than Thanksgiving. Saturday is the start of rifle hunting season throughout Pennsylvania. Junior license holders, supervised youth, disabled hunters with vehicle licenses, and U.S. Armed Forces resident personnel may hunt deer with antlers with two or more spikes on a 3-inch longer antler. In most parts of the state, hunters must find three dots on a wood for the deer to be a legal dollar. If you`re not familiar with the term spotting for deer, it`s pretty simple. All you need is a car, headlights, binoculars and a sense of adventure. Then just take the back roads to see what creatures you can find. Discovering new parts of the country can be half the fun. Open fields and apple orchards are always good places to look, but don`t forget to check out small clearings and power lines as well. Back then, headlights were simple enough than a light in what looked a lot like a souppot, with a cable plugged into the car`s cigarette lighter with an on/off switch. Now you can buy 1 million candle rechargeable lamps.
There are some basic laws you need to know. It is forbidden to project artificial light on a building, farm animal or photoelectric cell. Recreational spotlights are permitted between sunset and 11 p.m., except during the regular national antlerless and antlerless deer season. So load the family in the car and head to the back roads to have fun in the old country style. If you`re planning to visit this trophy deer, here`s what you need to know. Pennsylvania`s searchlight rules make it illegal to observe wildlife during the regular firearms season, which runs from Nov. 27 to Dec. 9 at most wildlife management units (MMUs) in the state. The Act also applies to counties in special regulatory areas throughout the state. Scouting is the act of throwing a light on a property to look for wildlife at night. Hunters spot deer at night to find out where some males are.
Night is a normal time for deer that come out of the forest to feed in fields and open areas. Those who break the law will need change. Lau said spotlights during gun season or after hours at any time of the year carry a fine of $100 to $200. If you have a firearm in the vehicle without a licence or permission to carry that firearm, you will see another fine of $100 to $200. When it is charged, it is another $150 to $300. Pennsylvania Game Commission spokesman Travis Lau said spotlights are banned during gun season because it`s an anti-poaching control. Since it became illegal between 1987-88, wildlife conservation officers can arrest someone in the spotlight and possibly stop someone from illegally shooting a deer in the dark. So, keep those lights home for the rest of this year`s deer season and admire the deer again with your projector between sunrise and 11pm starting December 10. This leads to an increase in spots on rural fields and properties when the sun goes down.
The regular season of the fire bear is 19 to 22. November with an extended season that overlaps rifle deer hunting in MMU 2B, 5B, 5C and 5D from November 26 to December. 10 Why there are restrictions at Antler Point: Pennsylvania Deer Harvest Quality Improves Due to 20 Years of Restrictions at Antler Point Where to Hunt Deer: Hunters Share Tips for Bagging Deer on the State`s Wilderness The Pennsylvania Game Commission defines projector as the use of hand lights, car accessory headlights or car headlights to find or see wildlife. More: If you use a dog to kill a deer in Pa. no longer breaking the law There are circumstances in which watching becomes illegal. But before you pick up the phone to call the police, here`s a quick overview. More:Local hunters show off this year`s deer harvest A look at the 2021 deer season: Deer processors prepare for the national deer and roe season Growing up in the small town of Sigel, one of my favorite things to do in the fall was getting in the family car for a deer watching evening. We had blankets, cider or hot chocolate, and a few snacks to enjoy as we drove down the back roads of northern Jefferson County in search of white-tailed deer. My brother and I counted the number of deer we would see and we were very excited when we saw a “beautiful” male. The biggest thrill for me was and still is to see two males fighting during the rut. When I went to Clarion University, deer watching was one of the favorite things for me and my friends to do.
Most students who grew up in urban areas had never heard of spotting. As soon as we convinced her to go and give it a try, we got her hooked. To this day, I enjoy walking on the less traveled roads with a spotlight in hand and my wife by my side. It gives me a break from the stress of modern life and I`m always excited when I see a large number of woods appear in the spotlight beam. Over the years, I have seen thousands of deer and many other creatures of the night, including bears, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, opossums, rabbits, skunks, mink, and many owls. Until December 10, you can shoot a deer in Pennsylvania — you just can`t light it. This article was originally published in October 2015. With the white tail rut just around the corner and hunting as a popular fall activity in the PA Great Outdoors region, it seems like the perfect time to revisit Pennsylvania`s longstanding rural tradition of deer watching.