HUNTING THE CLUB GROUNDS IS RESERVED FOR MEMBERS IN GOOD STANDING ONLY WHO HAVE COMPLETED THEIR 16 INDIVIDUAL SERVICE HOURS BY SEPT 1.

IF YOU DESIRE TO HUNT THE CLUB GROUNDS FOR ARCHERY DEER OR FIREARMS DEER, YOU MUST EMAIL webmaster@hopewellfishandgame.com AND EXPRESS YOUR DESIRE TO HUNT BY SEPT 1 OF THE YEAR THEY INTEND TO HUNT.

This information was prepared at the request of the Governing Body in an attempt to set rules and regulations to members wishing to hunt the club property. Safety is paramount in this proposal.  We want each member who hunts the club grounds to have a mutually beneficial experience and season as all other club members hunting the property.
 

All laws  for hunting in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania defined and enforced by the Pennsylvania Game Commission are the baseline for our club hunting policy. All members hunting or trapping on the club must obey all laws and regulations of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Violation of ANY PGC game laws or regulations and rules defined in the club specific policy will have their hunting privileges revoked for a term that will be decided upon by the Hopewell Fish and Game Association governing body.
 

The club grounds have been divided into hunt-able areas and Management Units based on the land survey conducted for both Archery and Firearms Seasons (two different maps with different safety range zones). There are 15 available management areas during Archery Season, and 6 during firearms season. Hunting these areas will be on a first come first served basis. You must sign in and out each time you hunt but there are no reserved hunting areas for archery season with the exception of opening day. There will be a “hunting spot lottery” for opening day of archery season, firearms antlered deer, and firearms antlerless deer.


Club General Hunting Rules Overview
(you must provide your name and PA hunting permits to webmaster@hopewellfishandgame.com 30 days prior to the season you intend to hunt in)
 

1. Anyone who hunts or traps on club property must have the minimum required 16 hours of service completed before September 1st of the hunting year they intend to hunt (no matter how long you have been a member) AND be a member in good standing by August 1st of the year they intend to hunt. All new members must also have their club orientation complete before hunting the grounds.
 

2. Anyone who hunts or traps on club property must have a current Pennsylvania hunting license with appropriate tags and notify the club 30 days prior to the season you intend to hunt in writing to webmaster@hopewellfishandgame.com
 

3. Anyone who hunts or traps on club property must be registered with the club with a copy of your Pennsylvania Hunting License.
 

4. NO GUESTS. You may hunt with other members however we reserve the privileges of hunting the club property to Regular (voting) and Family Membership holders.
 

5. Each hunter must sign in at the club prior to entering the woods to hunt and must also sign out before leaving the property each time they hunt. We need to know who is hunting the grounds, when and where. For safety reasons, if you do not check out of the club by a certain time, we know to send someone looking for you in the area you designated that you will be hunting. It is a two-strike system. You can forget to sign out once, it is excuse-able. The second time, your club hunting privileges will be revoked for that season’s calendar year.
 

6. All big game (Deer, Bear, Turkey) must be reported to the club within 24 hours of harvest. To report your harvest, either take a photo of your filled in harvest ear tag and email to webmaster@hopewellfishandgame.com (or text to 443-928-1940) OR Call it in to 443-928-1940. Please have your CID# ready if you are calling.
 

7. All tree stand hunters will be required to use an approved safety harness to hunt the club grounds. Your safety harness MUST BE WORN any time you are in a stand. NO EXCEPTIONS.

8. NO ATVS or GOLF CARTS or ANY OTHER MOTORIZED VEHICLES ARE ALLOWED TO GET TO OR FROM YOUR STAND LOCATION WITHOUT EXPRESSED APPROVAL FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS. These may be used  for the recovery of downed game ONLY.

9. PARKING: Parking to hunt the club grounds is only allowed at the club house parking lot, along the road to the rifle range, and in the rifle range parking lot. NO EXCEPTIONS!
 

Archery Hunting (Deer & Bear)

SEPTEMBER 1st is the deadline for completing your 16 individual service hours and submitting your name and tags for archery season.


1. Prior to archery hunting the club grounds, all club archery hunters wishing to hunt the property must pass an ANNUAL  qualifying 20 yard accuracy test prior to being granted permission to hunt the club grounds. You will be required to take your qualifying shot in the presence of the archery committee chair or other officer/board member.
 

To shoot your qualifying archery shot, please contact Archery Committee Chair Jarvis Green at  717-793-1422 to schedule your qualifying round.

If you fail to qualify, you have to wait 24 hours before you can shoot again.
 

2. All archery hunters are encouraged to wear rubber boots.
 

3. No Archery hunting in the Sporting Clays areas until after 3pm on Saturdays when there is a Sporting-Clays Event scheduled.  Please see the club calendar for those dates.
 

TREESTAND RULES
1. The club grounds belong to ALL members in good standing. No one has the right to hunt an area or stand exclusively on the club property
 

2. If you set up a ladder stand, you are forfeiting your right to exclusivity of that stand location. The stand becomes the club and it’s members property while it is on the club grounds.
 

3. All stands MUST HAVE THE OWNER’S NAME AND PHONE NUMBER on it, or affixed to it in some manner in the event another club member or officer needs to contact who put it there.
 

4. No Screw in Tree steps, nails or any other such hanging devices are permitted to affix stands or ladders/steps to trees on club grounds. All tree-stands must either be a climbing stand, lean-to ladder stand, or strap/chain-on stand with a strap-on stick ladder.
 

5. No moving of stands on huntable days outside of the hunting area you are in. You are permitted to move your stands from spot to spot but only within the hunting area it currently sits during a huntable day. All moving of stands from area to area needs to be done on Sundays.
 

DEER MANAGEMENT RULES
1. Antlerless deer may be harvested during both eary and late season archery, but ONLY with an approved archery weapon. WE DO NOT RECOGNIZE NOR PARTICIPATE IN THE EARLY MUZZLELOADER SEASON. You may also harvest an antlerless deer the entire firearms season.

2. You must have a current antlerless tag(s) for each animal you harvest.
 

OTHER RULES
1. NO PETS are allowed in the “huntable areas” or management units during all deer seasons, including Sundays. During the 6 weeks of archery and 2 weeks of firearms season for deer, all pets must stay in the non-hunting areas of the club grounds.
 

2. No recreational walking, biking, birdwatching or anything of that nature is allowed in the “huntable areas” or management units during all deer seasons, including Sundays. During the 6 weeks of archery and 2 weeks of firearms season for deer, all recreational activity must stay in the non-hunting areas of the club grounds.
 

Small Game Hunting & Furtakers:
Only permitted between the Archery Deer/Bear and Firearms Deer/Bear and the late 2nd season. No small game hunting OR furtaking during archery deer/bear or firearms deer/bear seasons.