The Lancaster Conservancy was founded in 1969 by a small group of hunters and anglers, who saw the wild spaces they cherished quickly disappearing and wanted to protect those ever-fewer natural lands that remained. Over the years and decades since, the Conservancy has preserved over 11,000 acres and now stewards over 50 nature preserves, restoring habitat and providing access to the outdoors. More than 55 years after our founding, hunters and anglers are still among the Conservancy’s most active supporters and preserve visitors.
Hunting plays an important role in the management of local wildlife populations, which can otherwise grow to unhealthy levels due to the modern absence of important predator species and the relative abundance of agricultural food sources, among other factors. With some species, like white-tailed deer, the use of hunting as a population management tool provides several ecological and local economic benefits. Without hunting, large populations of browsing deer can be devastating to the regeneration of native hardwood species within a forest, and they can also damage crops on surrounding farmland. Through public hunting access, those negative impacts can be sharply reduced. The management of white-tailed deer populations through hunting also helps to reduce the frequency of vehicle-deer collisions on local roadways, and it helps to reduce the spread of highly communicable pathogens like those that cause Chronic Wasting Disease. In addition to local benefits, harvest reporting from hunters provides much of the data that is used to model wildlife population trends and monitor for disease among game species in the commonwealth.
Lancaster Conservancy allows public hunting in pursuit of regulated game species on more than 6,000 acres across over 30 nature preserves through enrollment in the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Public Hunting Access Cooperator Program.
If you are interested in hunting on Lancaster Conservancy preserves, here are some things you should know:
- Find Conservancy preserves that are open to public hunting, along with downloadable hunting maps, on our Where to Hunt page.
- All Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) rules, regulations, seasons, and bag limits apply and are enforceable by PGC Wildlife Conservation Officers.
- Sunday hunting will be allowed on all dates approved by the PCG on Conservancy preserves that permit hunting within restrictions already established for those preserves, such as archery only areas, etc.
- No hunting is allowed after dark. Lancaster Conservancy preserves are open from dawn to dusk.
- Please do not cut or remove vegetation to create trails or shooting lanes.
- Hunters may utilize tree stands and ground blinds where hunting is permitted on Conservancy preserves. Those stands and blinds may be placed on preserves beginning two weeks before the start of Archery Deer Season and must be removed from our properties no later than two weeks after the end of the Late Archery Deer Season. Stands and blinds not removed by that time will be considered abandoned property and may be seized. Blinds may also be used on properties that permit spring turkey hunting during that season. Tree stands and blinds may not be secured to trees using nails, screws, or any other hardware that damages the tree beneath the outer bark.
- All stands and blinds must be tagged with the hunter’s name, phone number, and PGC-issued hunter identification number. We strongly encourage all hunters to wear safety harnesses when hunting from a stand. Hunters leave unsupervised property on Conservancy preserves at their own risk.
- Due to concerns for the privacy of our other preserve visitors, we do not allow the use of game cameras.
- Hunters should be considerate of other preserve visitors by keeping firearms and crossbows unloaded when in our parking areas, in any marked or unmarked Safety Zones, and on our hiking trails.
- While we encourage hunters to utilize our trail systems to access their hunting location, we do recommend staying at least 50 feet from any hiking trails while hunting. In addition, we insist that hunters never shoot towards, onto, or across hiking trails.
- Respect our neighbors by staying at least 50 feet away from any property boundaries when placing stands and blinds, never shooting into a neighbor’s property, and never entering any private property to pursue game without first getting permission from the owner.
- Follow Leave No Trace principles. If you pack it in, pack it out. Being a good steward of the land we all share helps to ensure the future of access for everyone.
- The Conservancy hopes that hunters will utilize their harvest responsibly, and we encourage those who hunt deer on our preserves to consider donating venison to Hunters Sharing the Harvest through any of a number of participating local butcher shops.
Here are some hunting season tips for non-hunters:
- Everyone should wear bright orange when visiting preserves open to hunting.
- Dogs are always to be kept on leash at Conservancy preserves, and this is extremely important during hunting seasons to help keep our pets safe, and to keep those pets from chasing wildlife or otherwise interfering with hunting activities, which is illegal in Pennsylvania.
- Stay on marked hiking trails and supervise children closely.
- Some preserves are specifically closed to hunting activities while remaining open to hiking and nature study. These include Climbers Run Nature Center, Conoy Wetlands Nature Preserve, Ferncliff Wildlife and Wildflower Preserve, Homewood Nature Preserve, and Shiprock Woods Nature Preserve.
- You may also consider visiting preserves open to archery hunting only during firearm seasons. Find a full list of preserves that are open to archery only hunting on our Where to Hunt page.
If you witness what you believe to be reckless or illegal hunting activity on any of our properties, please report that activity directly to the PGC’s Centralized Dispatch Center at 1-833-PGC-HUNT (1-833-742-4868) or 1-833-PGC-WILD (1-833-742-9453).