Our archery deer season is so long that everyone is a deer hunter now...Haven't seen a rabbit hunter in a long time

In south central and south eastern PA the 1960's until about 1985 had a booming wild pheasant population At the same the der herd was small but growing At that time many people from southern PA had hunting camps in the northern tier of PA If you where really interested in killing a buck you went to der camp Potter county often lead te way as far as total deer killed in the state .Meanwhile small game hunting was the number one thing to take part of in southern PA Many people still lived on family farms or where just one generation removed for living on a farm .Rabbits pheasants grouse and squirrels where part of a list o species to go after And sometimes waterfowl and other birds such as woodcock and doves might also . make up the bag for the day .At the same time many of those families still able to hunt the farms they owned or had access to would gather on Thanksgiving day Due to the fact that the older people where old enough to remember the Depression years a large part of the tradition of hunting Thanksgiving day was to put meat on the table The majority of people today do not related to the beef cattle standing in the pasture today will be the hamburger they eat next week Ans the milk hey buy at the grocery starts out with the farmer tending to the needs of his herd of cows .I feel lucky that I was able to be a part of the glory days of small game hunting During the 1980's the pheasant population disappeared in nearly all of the state Changing farming practices have eliminated much of the habitat needed for pheasants and rabbits to maintain a normal population In the 1980's southern PA also got caught up in the deer wars All land slowly got posted and shooting a big deer was now the only type of hunting that was considered to be proper The big camps upstate that used to do their traditional deer drives slowly got older And today man deer camps stand empty when deer season with a rifle opens now on the SAT after Thanksgiving I am happy to say I was able to be a part of all those hunting traditions I sometimes see all the new seasons that have been created to help get more kids involved I am 100 % in favor of getting kids started in a hunting career But I do not wish to trade places with today's outdoor youth I had the best of both worlds And it is sad that the small game hunting I had no longer exists

Gun season starts here tomorrow.
So I slipped out after squirrels this am.

As a kid, ALWAYS rabbit hunted Thanksgiving morning.
Then again, or squirrels day after.

Later, waterfowl.

Saw a lot of pheasant hunters this morning while checking traps. The day after Thanksgiving is always a big hunting day as family is still around and everyone has the day off. Heard some shooting yesterday afternoon off to the west so at least one group was out. Lots of pheasants in central Iowa this year.

Always a big deer hunting day around my parts, and the people were out in full force again

The second day in a row that I haven't seen a person or vehicle in the forest I grouse hunt in.

Yep I thought the same thing yesterday... In my day the men and boys went hunting Thanksgiving morning, while the women stayed home a cooked the meal for the early afternoon. I was sitting here by myself reminiscing about how things used to be and kind of wished I was still back there. But alas, I know it can never be.

Garry-

That would be called.......A Hat Trick..

Well, I went to check traps thanksgiving morning and saw about 85 people out rabbit hunting.

If I seen 85 people out hunting on my trapline,I would be looking for a new trapline,a little more remote,lol.

lol, me too. No, it was on the way to check a few traps I have set out for trapper education class tomorrow. Most folks here either hunt ducks and geese or rabbits this week.