Pocono News Section

Hunters Get Ready to Hit the Woods for Deer Season

Hunters Get Ready to Hit the Woods for Deer Season - Sunday, November 29, 2009 at 9:11PM EST

Reported by: Eric Deabill
Sunday, Nov 29, 2009 @ 09:11pm EST
HANOVER TOWNSHIP, LUZERNE COUNTY - Tens of thousands of hunters are getting ready to hit the woods across the region early Monday morning. Deer season officially begins on Monday.

The Nimrod Haven Sporting Goods Shop in Hanover Township was a busy place on Sunday afternoon. Whether it was buying ammo, getting clothing or picking out a new gun, hunters were stocking up.

"The past few days have been fast and furious. Right before Thanksgiving we started and it got pretty hectic," owner Joe Lasecki said.

Deer season is 12 days long. Hunters are expected to kill between 80-and-90-thousand deer on opening day alone.

"You're outside. There's a lot of tradition to it. I'm taking my grandson with me," Rick Ginanni of Hanover Township said. "I'm in the woods until it's dark. You go in when it's dark and you come out when it's dark."

A total of 750,000 hunters are expected to take to the woods on Monday. That is less than normal. According to Pennsylvania game officials, applications for hunting licenses have dropped ten percent in the last four years.

"I just like to go out and sit and relax," Steve Shock of White Haven said. "It's a relaxing time for me whether I get something or I don't."

Even with a shortage of ammo this season and a shaky economy, owners of Nimrod Haven say people will still go out locally. Workers say some hunters may just spend a little less.

"This business is not affected by the economy. Everybody takes their vacation. The hunters -- they go hunting. They don't stop spending because times are tight," Lasecki said.