Philadelphia Bowhunters Given Green Light by Interior Department to Whitetail Hunt Near PHL
OutdoorHub Reporters 10.09.18
The U.S. Department of Interior announced Philadelphia bowhunters now have the opportunity to hunt in a national wildlife refuge adjacent to Philadelphia International Airport.
Any whitetailers who decide to take advantage of this new opportunity will only be allowed to bowhunt on the 1,000-acre plot of land, and the hunt will be limited to 10 days a year.
In a statement given in September, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke gave the green light for hunting in John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge, noting his efforts to expand community access to public land.
Reports by WHYY state that Heinz refuge will be closed on hunting days, and at no time will more than 12 hunters be allowed to hunt per day. Hunters will be assigned through a lottery system with preference given to youth/first-time hunters, disabled hunters and veterans.
The hunts are slated to take place starting in 2019.
“American sportsmen and women contribute over a billion dollars a year to fund conservation. Without hunters and anglers, we wouldn’t be able to conserve wildlife and habitat; and, without access to our public lands like National Wildlife Refuges, many hunters would have nowhere to go,” Secretary Zinke said in the release.
“The last thing I want to see is hunting to become an elite sport, rather than a tradition passed on from generation to generation. Today’s announcement protects critical conservation funding, and ensues sportsmen have access to public lands for generations to come,” he added.
