Harrisburg, Pennsylvania - With archery season set to open on Sept. 30, the Pennsylvania Game Commission will review how the agency's Deer Management Section estimates deer harvests at an open house from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 28. The open house will be held in the auditorium and lobby at the agency's Harrisburg headquarters, 2001 Elmerton Avenue, just off the Progress Avenue exit of Interstate 81.

"With deer seasons just around the corner, the timing was right to hold an open house for hunters, the general public and the news media to review our deer harvest estimating process and the important role that hunters play," said Calvin W. DuBrock, Game Commission Wildlife Management Bureau director. "We scheduled this to begin prior to lunch and extend into the evening to maximize the opportunity for those interested in attending."

As part of the open house, every 90 minutes, the agency will conduct in the auditorium a 20- to 30-minute powerpoint presentation on the deer harvest estimating process. Following the six presentations, members of the agency's Deer Management Section will answer questions. Visitors also will have an opportunity to search computer records to find their deer harvest report among the more than 136,000 report cards received by the agency for last season. All report cards will be on display on the stage in the auditorium.

Other displays will focus on the scientific support for the Game Commission's deer harvest estimating process; how to properly determine the age of a deer based on the examination of the deer jaw and teeth; why the agency uses deer harvest estimates instead of check stations; and a map showing the field data collection process the agency uses to support its deer harvest estimates.

Created in 1895 as an independent state agency, the Game Commission is responsible for conserving and managing all wild birds and mammals in the Commonwealth, establishing hunting seasons and bag limits, enforcing hunting and trapping laws, and managing habitat on the 1.4 million acres of State Game Lands it has purchased over the years with hunting and furtaking license dollars to safeguard wildlife habitat. The agency also conducts numerous wildlife conservation programs for schools, civic organizations and sportsmen's clubs.

The Game Commission does not receive any general state taxpayer dollars for its annual operating budget. The agency is funded by license sales revenues; the state's share of the federal Pittman-Robertson program, which is an excise tax collected through the sale of sporting arms and ammunition; and monies from the sale of oil, gas, coal, timber and minerals derived from State Game Lands.

Media Contact:
Jerry Feaser
(717) 705-6541
PGCNEWS@state.pa.us