Big Game Season Means Big Business For Rural Pennsylvania
No other time of the year rivals the three weeks of big game season in rural Pennsylvania, as far as influx goes. It begins on November 20 with statewide bear season and rolls on until December 11 with the conclusion of the statewide firearms deer season.Several new changes may have an impact on an even greater turnout for these upcoming seasons. The biggest impact may be the addition of two Sunday hunting days. The first one will be on November 21 during bear season and the second on November 28 during the rifle deer season.
The other big change is the new antlerless season, which now stretches throughout the course of the statewide firearms season. Doe can now be lawfully taken during any legal hunting day. That alone should bring back a few people to hunt these mountains.
Trout season and Flaming Foliage brings people into their cabins, but only for a couple days. This three-week impact gets the busiest around Thanksgiving and stays that way until the conclusion of deer season.
Cabins will begin to fill up for almost a month and some hunters opt to skip traveling home for the traditional Thanksgiving feast and would rather have it at their cabin or camp.
That’s okay for local business owners. Local restaurants, diners, hotels and grocery stores very much need this current influx to sustain operations through the winter months. A huge percentage of their revenue greatly depends on out of town hunters looking to bag that trophy of a lifetime.
Renovo itself grows to the size a small city during this time. Traffic gets crazy along 120 coming into town during this time period. Cabins are filled all over Sproul State Forest and the yearly tradition of family time at the hunting cabins is in full swing.
Most hotels and lodges are booked a year in advance, so if you haven’t made your plans to hunt the Big Woods by now, chances are you won’t get your shot this year. Start making those plans now for next seasons.
Hunters generated $1.6 Billion in revenue last year. It’s big business. The same study estimated that a hunter in Pennsylvania spends an average of $1,260 each year annually on supplies, food, gas and so on. So when you start to complain when lines are backed up at your local gas station, just remember why and that hunting in the state supplied 15,000 rural jobs last year alone. Happy hunting and be safe out there!
