MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Evansburg State Park is the largest tract of public land open to hunting in Montgomery County. The 3,349-acre park surrounds Skippack Creek from east of Route 73 near Kulpsville to west of Ridge Pike south of Collegeville. Of the park’s total area, 1,000 acres are open to hunting.

Look for deer in the thickets immediately adjacent to the creek or in and around the farmed areas scattered throughout the park.

For a map of Evansburg, call the park office at (610) 409-1150. SGL 234 is a tiny tract of game lands encompassing 158 acres along the Schuylkill River near Linfield. The property may be accessed from Linfield Road, east of Route 724.

CHESTER COUNTY
WCO Scott Frederick, who covers the northern end of Chester County, sees no end in sight to the possibilities for deer hunters in his district.

“There are plenty of deer throughout the county,” Frederick said. “Hunters can expect to harvest deer anywhere from behind industrial parks and developments in the east to farms in the west.”

Marsh Creek State Park encompasses 1,705 acres, including a 535-acre lake, two miles west of the village of Eagle on Route 100. About 900 acres of the park’s forests and fields are open to hunting. To escape the deer-hunting crowds and find some prime deer habitat, park in the lot adjacent to the all-night boat launch on the lake’s west shore, hike south around the lake and head into the woods on the east side of the dam.

For a map of Marsh Creek, call the park office at (610) 458-5119.

French Creek State Park’s 7,475 acres spill over from the northern edge of Chester County into Berks County on both sides of Route 345. Over 6,000 acres are open to hunting, including all of the parkland in Chester County. Hunt the woods between Hopewell Road and St. Peters Road adjacent to Hopewell Furnace National Historical Site.

Closed to all hunting, Hopewell Furnace is a sizable tract that’s surrounded on three sides by French Creek State Park. Once hunting season begins, French Creek’s resident deer flock to Hopewell to escape pressure, and hunters would do well to station themselves near the boundary lines to catch deer moving in and out of the state park.

For a map of French Creek, call the park office at (610) 582-9680.

White Clay Creek Preserve encompasses 1,255 acres along Sharpless Road east of Route 896, 11 miles south of the Forrestville exit off Route 1 in southern Chester County near the Delaware state line. About 1,220 acres are open to deer hunting with archery tackle and muzzleloading firearms only.

For a map, call the preserve office at (610) 274-2900.

Straddling the line separating northern Chester County from southern Berks County is 2,306-acre SGL 43. Most of the acreage is in Chester County west of St. Peters Village and north of Route 23.

Part of SGL 43 abuts French Creek State Park and Hopewell Furnace. The tract is divided into three unconnected parcels. The largest may be accessed by taking Laurel Road west from Route 345 north of Route 23.

The second-largest section can be reached by taking either Northside Drive or Harmonyville Road east off Route 345. The smallest section may be reached from St. Peters Road north of Route 23.