Dreary, rainy weather chased many hunters out of the woods yesterday, the opening day of the statewide antlered deer season, but across the state, hunting-related accidents were minimal.

In Somerset County, Pennsylvania State Police said the death of Roger Lee Deem, 56, of Meyersdale was accidental. Investigating officer Cpl. Edward R. Thomas reported Mr. Deem was found in woods near Glennoris School Road in Brothersvalley Township, at the base of a tree where a tree stand had been placed. His death was determined to have been caused by a fall from the tree stand.

In Armstrong County, an Irwin man shot himself in the foot with a rifle, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Game Commission said. The man's name wasn't immediately released

Last year Pennsylvania hunters set a new record for safe hunting with 46 hunting-related shooting accidents, including two fatalities, with an incident rate of 4.81 per 100,000 participants -- the lowest on record.

Bad weather throughout most of the state took a bite out of the opening day harvest. On a day celebrated like an unofficial holiday throughout the Pittsburgh region, with school closings and many vacation days taken at places of business, hunters reported and seeing fewer deer than usual.

"Weather is such a factor," said Game Commission spokesman Jerry Feaser. "We won't know [harvest figures] until the harvest reports are in and our deer teams that visit the processors file their reports. In mid-March we'll know."

Mel Schake, of the commission's Southwest Regional Office, said he'd had an unusually quiet day.

"Most years [on opening day] we deal with a good number of calls about mistake kills and bad deer that aren't fit for consumption," he said. "But today, the phone's not ringing. ... But that's not necessarily an indicator of the harvest."

Mr. Schake said the deer harvest could improve with better weather forecast across southwestern Pennsylvania this week -- overcast but less rain.

Many hunters reported that driving rain and fog drove them out of the woods before noon.

Dave Hoskowicz, a circulation coordinator for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, downed a seven-point buck, but said hunting was generally poor in Butler County.

"It rained all day," he said. "There weren't many guys out; there weren't many deer out. I saw three deer all day."

Steve Loder of Ellwood City held out in the rain until about 11 a.m. in woods near Moraine State Park in Butler County, having jumped just one doe.

"I didn't see 25 percent of the vehicles I usually see," he said.

Rino Rotta had what he calls a "hunter's nightmare." Not only did he not see any deer in Crawford County, he tripped and broke his rifle scope.

"I counted maybe 60 shots, which are about a third as many as usual," he said.

Deer processing businesses contacted late yesterday said business was slow.

Carol Shellhammer of Tom's Deer Processing in Ford City, Armstrong County, said her regular customers had brought in about 50 deer by 3 p.m.

In Evans City, Butler County, Bill's Deer Processing reported having few customers.

In recent months, an outbreak of the virus epizootic hemorrhagic disease infected whitetails throughout southwestern Pennsylvania; EHD was most recently confirmed in early November in Indiana and Fayette counties. Game Commission officials estimate the disease, which is not contagious to humans, pets or most livestock, killed 1,500 to 2,000 deer in the region and could impact this year's deer harvest in some areas. The outbreak ended with the first hard frost.

Deer processing stations contacted yesterday said they had received no infected deer.

Hunters who suspect they have taken an infected deer can get a replacement tag from the nearest Game Commission regional office. Commission biologists recommend that hunters routinely wear latex gloves when field dressing any animal.

While Greene County was hardest hit by the EHD outbreak, Ted Ricciuti, who has been processing deer for more than 20 years at Fredericktown Butcher Shop, said the disease wasn't responsible for yesterday's slow business.

"It's because of the fog and the rain," he said. "Hunters are sitting in their vehicles. Nobody's in the woods."

Mr. Riccuiti said the shop usually processes 300 to 400 deer on opening day. By mid-afternoon, they had done 80 to 90.

A new regulation permitting hunting from one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset -- it had been permitted from dawn to dusk -- had no apparent impact on what will be remembered as a rainy, generally miserable opening day.