Hi all,

I'm moving to the Philly area next week. I was hoping y'all could help me out with finding places to hunt, fish, and shoot. I'm looking for place to hunt primarily deer and turkey. Private or public land is ok, preferably within a two hour drive of the city. I'm also looking for places to go trout fishing and for recommendations for a range in the Philly area.

Thanks for your help!

Brad

Brad,

I live just outside of the Phila area. First recommendations is to do a internet search for what you are interested in and the county of interest. That's what I did.

Hunting is tough. There are State Game Lands in surrounding counties. Some are larger than others. It's tough hunting with the crowds. The tri-county area and a few surrounding counties have a very liberal anterless season. It starts the 3 weekend in Sept. and goes till the end of Jan. Private is a lot tougher. My suggestions is to do a lot of door knocking. There are plenty of farms and small properties where people want to get rid of the deer (especially in the Phila area).

Turkeys. I moved to the area in 2000 and have only seen 5 or 6 turkeys total. You will need to go to the northern and western phila counties. The further north and west you go, the better it will become.

Shoot. You have the State game land ranges but, there are plenty of sportsmans clubs in the area to join. Membership openings are here and there but, would highly recommended it. I belong to Atglen Sportsmans club. http://www.atglensportsmensclub.org/membership.asp. Unfortunately their membership doesn't reopen till 2014.

Fishing. Lots of small lake and streams to mention them all. You are also with driving distance of the Bay in MD and the ocean in N.J.

Any other questions feel free to PM. Welcome to the area.

Thanks Highlander! Great information.

Anyone have experience with the Holmesburg Fish and Game club or Langhorne Rod and Gun Club?

quote:

Originally posted by JustWondering:
Thanks Highlander! Great information.

Anyone have experience with the Holmesburg Fish and Game club or Langhorne Rod and Gun Club?

Forget about Holmsburg, its an old police range and their facilities aren't much more than what you might find out behind some farmers barn. My cousin belongs to Langhorne, its expensive and some strange rules because of their configuration. Shooting positions are somewhat covered but in the open.

You could look into Delaware County Field & Stream they have 11 separate ranges, one for each discipline and except for trap and skeet, all the shooting positions are covered, so no issues shooting in bad weather.. If you decide to join, better do it pretty soon as there have been some rumblings about closing the membership when they hit a certain number... That "number" is the topic of discussion, but for now its still open.
I've been a member there for over 30 years and I wouldn't give up my membership for anything. Best club I've ever been to.....

Good luck!

Only been thru Pennsylvania one time, but have long time friends up there. As someone already stated the hunting up there is tough so you will need to do a good bit of research and legwork to find a place to hunt. Best of Luck in your new home.

The game comission destroyed the deer population in the state with their season and bag limit changes... In Bradford, Monroe, and Tioga counties it was NORMAL to see 15-50 deer in a day.. Although real trophies were lacking... Now, your lucky to see any deer at all, except in the special regs counties where they are still over-run, but if you are lucky enough to see a Buck, it's now usually a good one..

quote:

The game comission destroyed the deer population in the state with their season and bag limit changes... In Bradford, Monroe, and Tioga counties it was NORMAL to see 15-50 deer in a day.. Although real trophies were lacking... Now, your lucky to see any deer at all, except in the special regs counties where they are still over-run, but if you are lucky enough to see a Buck, it's now usually a good one..

My friends are in the Harrisburg area and even though they hunt every chance they get in that area, to kill deer, they go down to Virginia and buy Non-Resident licenses. The comments you made above are the same that I have heard from them.

quote:

Originally posted by Pa.Frank:

quote:

Originally posted by JustWondering:
Thanks Highlander! Great information.

Anyone have experience with the Holmesburg Fish and Game club or Langhorne Rod and Gun Club?

Forget about Holmsburg, its an old police range and their facilities aren't much more than what you might find out behind some farmers barn. My cousin belongs to Langhorne, its expensive and some strange rules because of their configuration. Shooting positions are somewhat covered but in the open.

You could look into Delaware County Field & Stream they have 11 separate ranges, one for each discipline and except for trap and skeet, all the shooting positions are covered, so no issues shooting in bad weather.. If you decide to join, better do it pretty soon as there have been some rumblings about closing the membership when they hit a certain number... That "number" is the topic of discussion, but for now its still open.
I've been a member there for over 30 years and I wouldn't give up my membership for anything. Best club I've ever been to.....

Good luck!

I looked. Glad I live in AZ. 100 yards for a high power range doesn't cut it for me.

I never hunted in PA, but did hunt in NY for four years. Deer hunting was very good only 50 miles north of NYC. I would look into other states. The one advantage you do have is close proximity to other states.

Good luck JW.

There are some fabulous world class limestone trout streams within a couple hours drive. Go north or northwest an hour and a half and you will be out of the crowds. Go to the Pennsylvania Game Commission web site and you will see lots of state game lands. They are crowded the first day but after that not many hunters. Philadelphia County does not permit rifle hunting so a bow, slug gun or muzzle loader is necessary. The season for bow or muzzle loader is very generous. The deer management program has been a real issue with sportsmen in PA since its inception. I am fine with seeing fewer deer but actually seeing a buck bigger than a spike. Three hours north of you is good bear country. Turkeys are abundant. I see them every day and I live 8 miles from the Pittsburgh city limits. Give PA a chance. I think you will be pleasantly surprised!

I can't comment about every corner of the state, but where I hunt, there are still PLENTY of deer. I don't recall the last time I spent a significant amount of time in the woods and didn't see a few.

With regard to hunting public land, try to find a big tract where you can walk in a few miles if you want to hunt the firearms deer season. Personally, I'd be tempted to skip gun season altogether and just hunt archery season. If you go on a weekday during archery season, most game lands are virtually deserted. I don't know a lot about the fishing that Far East, but the Susquehanna is there, and it used to be a prime smallmouth bass river.

If you're looking for a place to shoot I can recommend Lower Providence Rod & Gun Club. www.lowerprovidencerodandgunclub.com Good club. Indoor pistol/22 rifle range, 25 yd. outdoor pistol range, 100 yd. rifle range, trap field, archery practice and field course, crossbow range.

Membership is open. We're located in Oaks, PA which is in Montgomery county about 15-20 minutes from King of Prussia.

Hunting is tough in S/E PA. Public land is overcrowded and it's tough getting permission on private land.

Slightly more than 20% of PA is public land. State Forest Lands and Game Lands make up most of it. Some are hunted very hard, others get a lot less pressure. There are still a lot of landowners that will give you permission to hunt. You just need to drive out of the SE corner and ask nicely. Remember, Philly is a large city and the suburban counties around it have a lot of people. You'll have to drive to get away from the crowds. As the other guys have said, there are not as many deer as there used to be, but hard hunting will get results.
There are a lot local fish and games with ranges in PA. Many have trap, skeet, clays handgun and archery ranges as well as three hundred yard rifle ranges, some up to 1000 yards. Just check a few out to find a good fit. PA has a strong gun culture.
You'll have great fishing, trout in the limestoners and up in the mountains, shad, bass and rockfish in the Delaware, and trout up at the gap.
Welcome
Bfly

Brad, I am not familiar with SE Pa but straight north in pike county we have Delaware State Forest,89k acres, Delaware National Recreation Area,250k acres between Pa and NJ and several State Game Lands. What was said is true that the deer are not here like they used to be but they are here. There are not a lot of people out bowhunting and after the first few days of rifle there is a lot of space to hunt without the crowds. You need to get away from the roads. I live in a hunting club with 2000 acres and I hunt state land as much as I do our property. Also don't overlook the late Flintlock season, it is my favorite time of the year.

PM sent

Thanks everyone for all of the input. I'm really looking forward to checking out all of the opportunities. Can anyone recommend a good fly fishing shop in the Philly area?