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Staff recommends reducing snowshoe hare season limit to three per season
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Summary
Wildlife management staff proposed lowering Pennsylvania’s snowshoe hare season limit from a possible six per season to three, saying the species’ distribution is fragmented and harvest above three is rare among hunters.
Pennsylvania Game Commission staff recommended a conservative reduction to the state’s snowshoe hare season limit, proposing a three‑hare season limit to respond to declining and fragmented hare populations while retaining hunting opportunity.
Winnie Weaver, game mammal section supervisor, said the current regulation authorizes a short six‑day season in late December with a daily bag of one hare, producing a possible seasonal maximum of six hares. “We are recommending to reduce the limit to 3 snowshoe hares per season,” Weaver told commissioners, citing a decline in the proportion of wildlife management units reporting hare harvests and survey responses indicating isolated populations in some districts.
Weaver said the proposed change would have limited impact on most hunters: data from the agency’s game‑take survey over the past decade show fewer than 1 percent of hunters reported harvesting more than three snowshoe hares. The recommended rules would keep the six‑day season and the one‑hare daily limit but cap the season total at three hares to reduce the chance that localized high take could depress small, isolated populations.
Commissioners asked whether year‑to‑year conditions such as snowpack affect hare survival; staff replied that hares rely on suitable habitat and that weather can influence overwinter survival but that habitat is the primary driver.
Ending: The presentation closed with staff saying the change is a precautionary management step intended to balance sustained hunting opportunity with population protection; the transcript contains no formal board action on the proposal.
