PA Hunting

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diplomat019

New member
Hey guys. I am planning on taking a little road trip next season with my son and dog for some birds. I live in ny (hudson valley) and after some research been leaning towards pa. Id take 84 into pa so you have an idea where I'm coming from. its not too far and the hunting seems the best as far as the east coast is concerned. It seems that the western part of the state gets stocked the most, but the rest is still given its fair share. Recovery Areas are totally off limits if I am correct and there are a handful of male only wmu's. Im trying to judge if going out to SW/NW Pa is the best bet or staying closer. Is the land that much better in the male only wmu's or is it better to head to a state gamelands somewhere else? Ive done and I am still doing my research but I was just hoping if anyone had any helpful tips. Im not looking for any gps spots and I know people work hard for their spots. I do it in ny so i get it. Plus I'm not from PA ( but i have some family that is lol) so Im sure there is a tight knit fraternity of upland hunters. Just looking to get away, hunt a little and see some new scenery. Anyways you guys thread is cool and the pics are great. Thanks in advance for any tips. If you want to shoot a pm or keep it on the thread its cool. Thanks again!
 
You are correct, people come from all of the bordering states and some even further just to pheasant hunt here in Pa! Timing is going to be important, not critical but important. Being that your coming from such a long distance playing your trip earlier in the season would be your best bet and If your staying a couple days make it for during the week because the hunting pressure will be significantly less. As far as pointing you towards a specific area I think you have to figure out what region you would like to hunt in the most! Overall, the male only WMU's will provide you with a better quality of hunt however there are some rooster/hen areas that will provide you a just as good hunt! Think about where you would like to hunt..Do you prefer rolling hills with farms or do you prefer smaller patches of cover with interspersed woodlots? Start thinking about stuff like that, maybe you want to see a certain part of the state. Just thinking about this stuff makes me want to start planing for next year, the preparation is half the fun. Take your time and enjoy the process and you have come to the right place. Once you narrow down some of your choices I may be able to steer you in the right direction!
 
thanks hollow. You brought a good point up about the landscape. Id like to be in some rolling hills. I didnt even think of the terrain, so thanks for bringing it up. I guess that would narrow down some of the search. What region would hold that type of cover?
 
HollowWatcher has give you some good advice.

Depending on where you hunt, you may be able to hit up 4 or 5 different locations without driving more than 20 minutes from place to place. It may be good to try and target an area that gives you multiple options. This year I had a couple of guys come up from NC to hunt. Our first stop on a Saturday had a lot of standing corn that didn't work out too well. Fortunately, a 20 minute drive yielded better results with multiple points and flushes from the dogs. If you plan on hunting multiple days and staying in PA a couple of nights, you may want to start in the southern portion which is rooster only and work your way north towards home.

You can check out some of the gamelands using google maps. It may give you some insight to the type of terrain each gamelands has.
 
baur- thanks. what you suggested is pretty much what my plan is. to pick out a region, then a specific area and try and hunt multiple locations. staying on the eastern part of the state would lessen travel time by a few hours. I don't mind driving a long ways, but if hunting is just as good on the eastern part id stay there. working from north to south sounds like a good plan. have you done that before? how did t work out? I'm thinking a 3-4 day trip is what i will do. damn, you guys are schooling me so far on ideas lol. my dog is only 2 so this would be my first hunting excursion with him. i have looked at state game lands on google maps. sometimes its hard to judge the land jmo. pa has so much land that i was trying to narrow down the region, then county, then specifically what areas. thanks for the replies. the help is appreciated.
 
I have started north and hunted south but I didn't have to drive too far to get to my 1st spot, about 45 minutes. Then I just worked my way towards home and hit 3 or 4 different areas. Some places were good, others not so good but the day was a good one. Others on here may be able to comment on how the eastern part of the state is. I hunt in the south central part of the state around Gettysburg/York area. Mostly York and Adams county and occasionally Cumberland county around Carlisle. The PGC website listing the stocking info should provide you with good information for deciding on an area.
 
diplomat,

Both Buerline and Hollow are right on!

It's going to take some discussions to steer you in the right direction. If you plan on going to an area and staying ,then it's different than making a traveling road trip, trust me we've done both. :) For me, I've enjoyed going to an area and staying and hunting what that area of the State had to offer. It always seem to rushed to hunt and run and it seemed like we could never really know the area that way. I agree with bauerline that it would be a good idea to choose an area that offers multiple options and hunt that area hard. The State has been doing a fantasic job with it's releases so you should do well.

Like Hollow said, you're going to have to decide what type of hunting you're looking for. Some areas of the State may receive a lot of birds but not resemble the " traditional" pheasant habitat that you are looking for. I think it's pretty easy to assume that the Rooster only areas are going to give that old time pheasant hunt feeling.

Most of us here spend our vacation time doing just what you are planning, and if you look a at the old posts you can see we are having a great time of it.

Having said all that and if travel distance wasn't a concern I would take a hard look at the South West part of the State. It recieves a ton of birds, has that old time Pennsy farm look, and just might hold a surprise ;) or two for you!
 
I would look into the the southern portion of the state but also include the north east region. If you have a smart phone I would highly recommend purchasing the Pa state game lands app. It will be very helpful to you on your trip. The Mapping Center on the game commission's website is something that you must definitely check out. It will give you an idea of what is available in certain areas.
 
I think the best advice I can give is to listen to the advice of these guys! Ive learned a lot about Pa. pheasant hunting in a short time. This has become my favorite site.

Welcome to the site!
 
awesome stuff.

i seen that they have the online map. hadn't dug that far in yet but when the time comes its good to know its helpful. The NE region would be the closest for me. Just based off what i know am i correct that the landscape is kinda similar to ny? not what a "traditional" pheasant landscape wold look like? more smaller fields with wooded lots, or am i off base?

originally i was thinking the sw region of the state, just based off the number of birds released. how you described the cover is kind what i was envisioning.

Thanks for the tips. ill keep you guys posted on things. Btw, the pheasant camp thread is my favorite. Ever since I got my dog i keep getting more addicted to bird/small game hunting and less from deer. NEVER thought i would have ever said that lol
 
You're correct..the majority of the northeast would be similar to what your use to in NY however there are a couple of areas that are similar to the southern part of the state. The region is worth looking into even if it's just for a quick hunt on your way home!

Sounds like your hooked..hunting with a bird dog is something special!
 
this is my dog Roscoe. 2 year old male gsp.


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That's a fine looking pup! What areas of New York have you hunted?
 
Thanks. I hunt the state land near me. Hudson valley and lower catskills (dec region 3). Its rare to see any holdovers. Birds of prey and predators take care of whatever hunters don't get. We just don't have the habitat.

haven't been for grouse yet. been wanting to take a trip to go for them. tug hill is probably the best in the state.

There is a pheasant population in the finger lake region tho. dec has a recovery plan in place.
 
Any of you familiar with bradford county? SGL 123, 239 and 289 look good and they are close to each other which means I could possibly hit them all up in a long weekend. Any thoughts? Mt pisgah is adjacent to 289 and they release there as well. so thats 4 release sites within driving range.
 
I am very familiar with Bradford County! The area has come along way as it pertains to pheasant hunting! The potential of the area is tremendous..the county needs a Pheasants Forever chapter immediately in my opinion to take the next step! With that being said I don't know if it should be your destination. In my opinion..if you were going to hunt this area you would need to take several trips just to scout it out..because you could go to some areas that are not what your looking for. The best pheasant hunting in the area is found on private farms enrolled in the PGC Cooperative Farm Game Program which you have to have permission to hunt. Finding these hidden gems are no easy task..and I am speaking from experience! The public land in the area needs more habitat, the few birds that do holdover in this area do so on private land. It's a rooster/hen area as well so a bunch of birds being released are going to be hens so that's something to think about..even with released birds..those rooster's are still more elusive and present a challenge which would be even more a challenge up there!
 
I was thinking about distance and birds released. The amount of birds released in bradford alone is what ny releases in the state (if im not mistaken). According to the pa game site 30k pheasants were released in bradford, thats what ny releases across the state. I know I mentioned wanting the rolling hills etc but im not all against smaller lots, which is what these look like from the map.
 
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