Would love any input or pros and cons. I’ll be traveling for work multiple weeks in 2020. We’ll be staying near Hagerstown, MD but working just north across the line into PA (near Franklin/Adams counties). I’ll be there 4-5 weeks throughout the year and probably end up hunting somewhere around Oct.10-20. Been looking at a ton of info online but hoping for some help. Obviously don’t want GPS coordinates or anything, more like general information. I’m only buying one out of state license so first step is narrowing it MD or PA. Beyond that I’m all ears. I know it’s a ways out but looking forward to it and want to be prepared.
First and foremost, if you are hunting in PA you will most likely be hunting in a DMA, disease management area. The rules and regs seem to change slightly every year in PA for anything concerning CWD.. so make sure you read up! PA being my home state and having hunted MD a handful of times.. I would say you have a better chance at higher quality bucks in PA. The seasons in MD seem to be more liberal giving you more opportunities to be in the field which is nice. PA is in the process of changing a lot of regulations in DMAs though. Some potential changes are no more APRs, possibly a second buck tag, lots more doe tags, October Rifle Season and various other changes. So if you are going to hunt PA, 2020 will be the year.. after that I do not think hunting in PA will be worth much any more. If hunters do not drastically drop the deer herd, the PGC is going to bring in sharp shooters to reach the desired kill numbers. Just following social media, there have been more amazing bucks hitting the ground than I ever remember.. There will be one more year of that, then back to square one once these new regs start... so if you are looking for good quality bucks I would definitely say pick PA. Just make sure you know the rules and regulations, especially about transporting "high risk" parts. As far as those specific counties.. I cant help you much. I mainly hunt Somerset, Bedford and Cambria counties. Good luck with your decision!
I appreciate the insight. I’ve been looking at the interactive map (which is awesome btw). Looked a little in Bedford, it’s right around an hour which is about the max travel time I’ll be able to do. I’ll be hunting primarily weekday evenings and maybe a couple Saturdays. As far as CWD, I definitely need to read up on that. I’ve only read some general info on testing and disposal.
I thought PA was a no and MD was a go but I know PA may be making some changes. A lot of states (VA) included exclude public land for some reason.
It's county by county in MD on Sunday hunting. But most public land is no Sunday hunting. I believe you can't transport any spinal cord or brains across MD/PA border. So you have to debone the deer and boil the skull/ skull cut if it's a buck. As in tags. Pa is 1 buck tag and you buy your doe tags, but they do run out in some areas? In MD you get 2 buck tags and 15 doe tags just for archery. One buck tag you have to buy as a bonus tag. Md season is alot longer. Starts in first week of September and ends on January 31. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
Sunday hunting will be allowed on 3 Sundays in 2020. One in archery, one in rifle and one to be determined by the PGC. Those will probably be announced when the 2020 licenses go on sale. As far as transporting the deer.. I killed one in ohio this year and to return to PA I had to quarter the deer, not debone it.. I also had to cape the deer and then remove the cape from the skull, I then had to cut the antlers off. We just cut a small portion of skull plate with the antlers and cleaned off the brain best we could. That was acceptable to return to PA. If you do kill a deer in the DMA you can transport the deer within the DMA to an approved butcher and an approved taxidermist without doing anything other than your normal field dressing.. when you leave the DMA is when you can run into trouble. Thats the general gist of the regs, but I would definitely read them and re-read them. As far as your Oct. 10-20 dates, I would definitely keep an eye on the possible October rifle season. Supposedly its going to be when our antlerless muzzleloader season usually occurs which is right in your time frame.
