The Pennsylvania Game Commission has reported it’s harvest estimates for the 2021-2022 Muzzleloader Deer Season to a bit of fanfare. Coming off of last years increase in hunters, there was a slight decline in the 2021-2022 season.

In the 2021-2022 season, muzzleloading enthusiasts took a total of 21,060 deer, 1,020 antlered deer and 20,040 antlerless deer.

The overal season, including archery, general firearms and muzzleloading saw a 13% decline in deer taken over last year’s season, and a 6% decline when compared to the previous 3 years. It’s important to note that the Game Commission has not reported the number of hunting licenses sold.

Harvest estimates are based on more than 21,000 deer checked by Game Commission personnel and more than 122,000 harvest reports submitted by successful hunters.

Antlerless hunter success rates remained around 25% (approximately a quarter of all antlerless licenses were used to harvest an antlerless deer). This is on average with harvest success for recent years

Comparisons between the current year’s harvest and historic antlered harvests often do not consider hunter numbers. In 1986, there were 1,000,000 deer hunters in Pennsylvania. Today, there are around 650,000 deer hunters. When corrected by the number of hunters, success rates are higher today than in the past, even with antler-point restrictions.

Historic PA Antlered Deer Hunter Success Rates versus Recent

1987-88 16% of deer hunters harvested an antlered deer

1997-98 19% of deer hunters harvested an antlered deer

2007-08 15% of deer hunters harvested an antlered deer

2017-18 23% of deer hunters harvested an antlered deer

2018-19 22% of deer hunters harvested an antlered deer

2019-20 25% of deer hunters harvested an antlered deer

2020-21 26% of deer hunters harvested an antlered deer

2021-221 22% of deer hunters harvested an antlered deer

It’s always fun to look at the data released by these agencies. Many times we form our opinions based on local information or what we are personally seeing. Releases like this help the hunting community get a better idea of what is actually going on at a state level.

Conservation remains an important part of the muzzleloading and larger hunting community. As you begin planning for next year’s season, consider taking a friend or young person to help carry on the sport.