Credit: Pa.gov
Pennsylvania's late archery season runs from Dec. 26 to Jan. 20
Approved archery hunters will be permitted in Armentrout Preserve from Dec. 26 to Jan. 20, which is Pennsylvania’s late archery season, Whitpain Township recently announced.
This marks the second year of Whitpain Township’s wildlife management program, which was started to help protect the health and diversity of the ecosystem in the preserve.
According to the township, there can be up to 12 approved archers in the program, who have to complete multiple programs to prove their efficiency, ensuring the safety of themselves and everyone in the surrounding areas. These archery hunters will be in the preserve during the hours near dawn and dusk and must follow township rules and ordinances when using the preserve.
“The purpose of the program is to control the herd size in Whitpain Township”, said Mike Richino, director of Parks and Recreation. “We want to help minimize damage to trees, gardens, and decrease the risk of incidents on the roadways.”
This year, nine archers submitted applications to be part of the program.
“We want to encourage people that are using the preserve for the late archery season to exercise some judgement,” said Richino. “Wear bright colors, those kinds of things. The last thing we want is any confrontation between the regular preserve users and the people there on the program. We want everyone to enjoy the park and get along.”
Meetings were held in 2021 by the Whitpain Township Deer and Wildlife Management Committee to initiate a plan for the area.
“We talked about it for about a year,” said Richino. “We decided the best step would be a pilot program. I presented it about a year and a half ago. The feedback from residents was overwhelmingly positive in giving this program a try.”
It reviewed:
• Statistics of deer crashes reported to the Whitpain Township Police Department;
• The current deer management program in use by Wissahickon Trails;
• Alternative methods of deer management;
• The impact of deer population on trees and vegetation in Whitpain Township;
• Local municipalities that currently hold deer management programs;
• Best practices of deer management based off of Delaware Valley Wildlife Management;
• Areas within Whitpain Township where deer management might be possible.
After reviewing statistics and data from these studies, the Deer and Wildlife Management Committee recommended to the Whitpain Board of Supervisors to adapt the deer management pilot program.
For more information about the program, click here.
