Deer Season Opens in Pennsylvania, Minnesota Licensing Changes

Minnesota officials are urging deer hunters to buy licenses early as they adjust to a new largely electronic system; hunters must digitally validate a deer at the kill site, though paper license options remain available. In Michigan, legislation to lift the Lower Peninsula’s deer-baiting ban and establish paid baiting permits has stalled and is unlikely to advance before the session ends, with supporters citing crop damage, crashes and deer overpopulation while the ban was intended to help limit wildlife disease. Pennsylvania’s archery season now includes Sunday hunting, and updated chronic-wasting-disease rules require hunters to leave high-risk deer parts at the kill site or dispose of them in the trash. Separately, a Pennsylvania lawmaker plans to propose letting resident hunters vote on whether the regular firearms season should open the Saturday or Monday after Thanksgiving, with the winning date applying for 10 years.