The Pennsylvania Game Commission will vote Saturday on potential adjustments to the deer rifle season, which officials believe could bolster interest in hunting among youth and young adults.

The game commission’s nine-member board met in Dauphin County Friday to discuss opening deer rifle season on Nov. 28, a Saturday, and continue through Dec. 13 — expanding the season’s Sunday hunting days from one to three.

The Game Commission voted 5-3 in 2019 to shift the start of deer rifle season from the Monday after Thanksgiving to the Saturday after the holiday. Deputy Executive Director Dave Gustafson said he believes the shift has helped the state maintain its annual hunting license sales after years of decline.

More than one million Pennsylvanians purchased hunting licenses in 2000, Gustafson said. That figure declined over the next two decades, dropping to about 940,000 in 2012 and 850,000 in 2018.

There was a spike in hunting license purchases during the covid-19 pandemic, resulting in more than 875,000 licenses sold. That increase was not sustained in the following five years, but annual license purchase numbers have remained at or around the figure reported in 2018, Gustafson said.

In 2025, more than 837,000 licenses were sold.

“For folks to say moving the Saturday opened had no effect, I’m not sure that really holds water,” he said. “I think we can demonstrate here very clearly that providing more opportunities has had an impact. It has slowed the decline.”

There also has been a change in the number of junior and senior licenses being sold, Gustafson said.

In 2000, nearly 90,800 senior licenses and 103,700 junior licenses were sold.

Last year, there were more than 167,000 senior licenses sold, an 84% increase from 2000. About 59,000 junior licenses were sold last year — down nearly 43% from 25 years ag0.

“That’s something that I think we can all agree is somewhat troubling,” he said, “when we look down the road to the mission of the Game Commission to work toward managing wildlife and their habitats for both current and future generations.”

Opening more weekend hunting opportunities could increase the number of junior licenses being sold, Gustafson said, as many of the state’s youth and young adults are preoccupied with school during the week.

“Providing as much opportunity as possible is how I think we’re going to engage that future generation of hunters,” he said.

Robert Schwalm, secretary for the Game Commission Board, noted that 33% of the students who enroll in the state’s hunter-trapper education course, required for first-time hunters, don’t go on to purchase a hunting license.

“They don’t have anyone to take them out and introduce them to hunting,” Schwalm said. “This is up to us as hunters. Here in Pennsylvania, we have 837,000 hunters. Let’s step up to the plate and get these kids out and get them involved.”

The Game Commission’s meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. To tune into the meeting via livestream, visit PA Game Commission on YouTube.