Photo by Ralph D. Hensley.

There are many public lands in the Keystone State where December deer hunters can enjoy their sport in relative solitude. On many of these areas, the chance of a trophy buck exists.

One fact of deer-hunting life is that once opening day has come and gone, hunting pressure tends to wane, even on public hunting areas.

Select public areas may not see the level of attention gotten by other places, such as state game lands better known for their waterfowling opportunities, or federal flood-control lakes rimmed with properties open to hunting. With all this in mind, consider these five options for a Pennsylvania deer hunt this month:

CRAWFORD COUNTY
Swamp Whitetails
Crawford County is better known for its abundance of waterfowling options on public lands. But hunters will find whitetails in good numbers on bordering uplands that rise up gently from the swampy areas.

These areas lie within an hour's drive of Erie, and are also a reasonable distance from Pittsburgh. Interstate Route 79 provides a convenient corridor for hunters visiting the area from both the north and south.

State Game Lands No. 213 surrounds the outflow of Conneaut Lake. Officially, this 5,555-acre game lands is called Conneaut Marsh, though locally referred to as Geneva Marsh.

An extremely popular waterfowling destination, especially during the early seasons, Geneva Marsh also provides whitetail habitat along its fringes, where the marshland gives way to field and forest.

Most of the deer habitat lies within the western portion of this game lands. Some upland cover may be found around other portions of the game lands, though it is a narrower band of habitat between the swampland and surrounding private land.

Access into the interior of SGL 213 is by way of primary and secondary roads that skirt the area, as well as a few gravel roads.

State Route 285 runs along the southern side of the game lands, through the town of Geneva. A few parking areas may be found along this road. Backcountry roads crossing the marsh intersect with state Route 285, as well as the B&LE railroad tracks. A propagation area exists within the marsh, downstream of the railroad.

Crawford County's swamp deer also call SGL 214 home. This game lands contains Pymatuning, the popular Canada goose controlled-hunting area. This game lands covers about 5,400 acres, much of which lies outside of the controlled-hunting area.

The situation on State Game Lands No. 214 is similar to that found at Conneaut. A significant portion of the public-hunting area surrounds a series of impoundments and the adjoining uplands known as Hartstown Marsh.

Enterprising deer hunters will find opportunities within the buffer that separates the swampland from the private land. State Route 18 runs along the western side of the marsh. Hunters coming from the east or west may use Route 322.

Download good maps of both areas from the Game Commission's Web site at www.pgc.state.pa.us.

MAHONING PROJECT AREA
In the northeastern corner of Armstrong County, this U.S. Corps of Engineers dam on Mahoning Creek backs the creek up for several miles.

Since the maximum capacity of this flood-control dam is over 60 feet above the normal summer pool, a significant amount of acreage in the watershed above the dam lies in the public domain.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission manages the flood zone lands surrounding Mahoning Lake. This is a common practice on many federal flood-control lakes.