PA BOARD APPROVES MEASURE TO LIMIT TREESTANDS ON STATE GAME LANDS
The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today gave preliminary approval to a regulatory change to allow the placement of portable hunting stands from two weeks before the opening of the first big game season to two weeks after the close of the last big game season within each respective Wildlife Management Unit, excluding the spring gobbler season.
Game Commissioner Ronald Weaner requested that Game Commission staff prepare an amendment for the January meeting to require treestand owners to put identification information on stands used on State Game Lands.
A portable treestand is one that is not permanently affixed to a tree. They include climbing, hang-on and ladder treestands, as well as those constructed and lashed to trees. Treestands nailed or bolted to trees are illegal on State Game Lands.
“The Game Commission has historically permitted the placement and use of portable hunting stands on State Game Lands, and its continued support for the use of treestands has not diminished,” said Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director. “However, the agency has identified that this general permission has, in certain instances, resulted in the unintended consequence of some portable hunting stands seemingly becoming permanent fixtures on State Game Lands.
“Additionally, it has given some treestand owners the impression that they can lay claim to a section of State Game Lands.”
If approved by the Board in January, hunters would, in essence, be able to place their treestands on State Game Lands two weeks prior to the archery deer season, and then have to remove the stands two weeks after the late flintlock deer seasons.
