The 2005 hunting seasons have scarcely begun but the Pennsylvania Game Commission has unveiled its proposals for the 2006-07 hunting year. The board of game commissioners approved a schedule of seasons and bag limits last week at its October meeting in Harrisburg.

Traditionally the Game Commission has put forth proposals for the next hunting year at the January meeting, and then votes on final approval in April.

"License buyers have asked for -- and we're providing -- more advance notice of season dates to help them select their vacation days," said Commission Board President John J. Riley. "Now hunters already know the season frameworks for next year. There won't be a scramble in November and December to get dates that aren't available. Hunters and trappers can schedule their vacations with confidence, knowing that they won't miss opening days."

But the period between the proposal of hunting dates and final approval three months later is intended for public comment. By telling license buyers that they can plan their 2006 vacation time based on the proposals, the commission is limiting its ability to make changes at its Jan. 22-24 meeting when the board will consider the proposed schedule for final adoption.

Commissioners proposed a 2006 deer season framework virtually unchanged from 2005. Unless altered in January, there will again be a concurrent two-week season for antlered bucks and antlerless deer (Nov. 27-Dec. 9, 2006). Antler restrictions will remain in place under the same format as in 2005. Wildlife Management Units 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, and 2D will retain their 4-point minimum restriction, while the rest of the state will have a 3-point minimum.

The basic framework for archery deer season (Sept. 30-Nov. 11, 2006), the October muzzle loader season (Oct. 14-21, 2006), and the October antlerless season for junior and senior hunters (Oct. 19-21, 2006) will remain unchanged except for specific beginning and ending dates.

Commissioners did propose significant changes to bear hunting seasons. Assuming the proposal wins final approval in January, Pennsylvania will have its first archery bear season in 2006. The bow hunt for bears will run Nov. 15-16, 2006 in Wildlife Management Units 2C, 2D, 2E, 2F, 2G, 3A, 4A, 4B, and 4D. Bowhunters would be required to purchase a bear license before hunting in the new season.

The regular three-day firearms bear season is proposed for Nov. 20-22, 2006, and properly licensed hunters will again be able to take black bears during the regular firearms deer season in WMUs 3B, 3C, 3D, 4C, and 4E.

Small game and turkey seasons will remain basically unchanged from recent years.

In addition to proposing seasons and bag limits for the coming year, commissioners granted emergency powers to the agency's executive director "to prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease if it is discovered in or near the state or poses a serious threat to the commonwealth's deer and elk populations."

The new regulation grants the executive director the authority to, if CWD is identified within the state's borders, "prohibit feeding of deer in a defined containment area if the spread of CWD poses a threat to human safety, farm animals, pets or wildlife in the commonwealth, and to ban the importation of certain high-risk deer or elk parts, such as the lymph nodes, brain and spinal cord."

Chronic wasting disease is an always-fatal neurological disease of deer and elk, first discovered in Rocky Mountain states in the 1960s.

The board also unanimously approved a resolution that directs Commission staff to continue working to remove the federal requirement that the Game Commission demand social security numbers from hunting license buyers.

Many license buyers objected to providing their social security numbers this fall, and Game Commission officials believe the requirement may have contributed to a significant drop in hunting license sales so far in 2005.