Pennsylvania Game News - August 2019 - 12

Jacob Dingel

weather, modified where whitetails were.
Bowhunters made up for their slow
start. The overall, 2018 archery harvest
was similar to the previous three years,
about 110,000 deer.
Fall foliage wasn't what most of us
expected to see. It sort of followed a
green, brown, down progression. The
splashes of reds, yellows and scarlet? A
distant memory.
Deer movements seemed different,
absent or labored, depending upon where
you hunted.
As hunters debated going afield after
work, many of them wondered whether
deer, too, were rethinking whether to
round up grub in the heat.
They did, according to Rosenberry.
"Regardless of fall conditions, deer
gain weight," Rosenberry noted. "One
study found that deer with 20 percent
body fat could balance their energy
expenditure with fat stores for about three
months."
So, hunters who could stand the heat,
had a chance to take a deer, so long as
their movements or body odors didn't
betray them.
On days when the heat relented, rain,
showers and humidity plagued bowhunters, even inline muzzleloader and specialfirearms season antlerless hunters.
The Oct. 27 Saturday in the 2018 bow
season was one of those tough days, noted
Rosenberry.
"Nearly an inch of rain fell in the State
College area on a mid-40s-degree day; the
harvest was a third of what it was over the
previous three years," Rosenberry said.
And who can forget the steady rain on
the rifle season opener? It ranked as one
of the slowest openers in some time, at
least in eastern Pennsylvania.
But hunters went afield for that wet
opener, because it's easier to shoot more
12

effectively in the rain with a firearm than
a bow. And many fine bucks fell in the
rain. All things considered, though, most
would have preferred a colder, drier day.

WILDLIFE & WEATHER

After a rainy September, Pennsylvania's northern tier picked up aboveaverage rain - 5 to 7 inches total - and
much of the state faced above-average
temperatures, according to records provided by the Northeast Regional Climate
Center (NRCC) at Cornell University.
The average October 2018 temperature
was 52.3 - within 5.5 degrees of the record
high October average temperature of 57.8
degrees, set in 2017. The coldest occurred
in 1925, an average of 43.5 degrees.
Interestingly, Pennsylvania's November was the 21st coldest on record, according to the NRCC. The average November
temperature was 36.6. November rainfall
averaged 7 to 11 inches in eastern Pennsylvania, while in the western half, it was
3 to 7 inches.
Pennsylvania ran slightly warmer in
December 2018. The southern tier dealt
with more rain. Snowfall was light. In
fact, November surpassed December in
snowfall.
Turkey hunters are among those who
prefer warmer weather, according to
Mary Jo Casalena, Game Commission
wild turkey biologist, because it keeps
turkeys active. But rainy weather often
limits their effort.
Several factors - food supply, habitat,
weather, hunter activity and turkeypopulation density - influence fall turkey
movements, Casalena said. But when
temperatures are warmer than average,
turkeys tend to remain in their summer/
early fall areas longer than normal.
"Lack of frost allows insects to remain
present as a food source, which is espe-

Pennsylvania Game News - August 2019

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