When did you last walk a gated road on State Game Lands 13 without an orange hat? If it was after October 1, you were out of compliance with a rule most people around Muncy Valley still tie to the two weeks of rifle season.
For years, non-hunters on Pennsylvania game lands had to wear fluorescent orange from November 15 through December 15. That 31-day window ended this year. The Pennsylvania Game Commission's amended rule, published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on May 30, 2026, took effect July 1. It moves the requirement to October 1 through January 31, adds a second window from April 20 through May 31, and drops the Sunday exception for people riding bikes or horses on game lands during those periods. The calendar adds up to about 165 days a year. Around Muncy Valley, that makes the boundary line more important than the date. The woods within a short drive split into land where orange is the law for nearly half the year, land where hunting is allowed but orange isn't required of walkers, and a few trails where nobody hunts at all.
What the rule now says, word for word
Under 58 Pa. Code § 135.41(c)(21), it is unlawful to:
Be present on State game lands from October 1 through January 31, inclusive, and from April 20 through May 31, inclusive, when not engaged in lawful hunting, trapping or fishing and fail to wear a minimum of 250 square inches of daylight fluorescent orange-colored material on the head, chest and back combined or, in lieu thereof, a hat of the same colored material. The material shall be worn so it is visible in a 360° arc. Persons using shooting ranges are exempted from this requirement.
The old version, printed in the April 4, 2026 proposed rulemaking with the deleted text bracketed, read "November 15 through December 15 inclusive" in the same spot. The proposal had set the spring window to start April 1. The final rule moved that to April 20.
The 360-degree requirement is where a vest over a dark jacket can fall short. Lt. Amy Nabozny, a state game warden and information and education supervisor, put it plainly to The News-Item: "You can't just wear it on your chest because someone behind you is not going to see it. It has to be visible 360 degrees." She said an orange hat by itself satisfies the rule, and she strongly encouraged people walking dogs to put an orange vest on the dog and keep it leashed.
Why Sundays stopped being the easy day
The Sunday change is what made the longer window necessary. Act 36 of 2025 repealed Pennsylvania's long-standing general ban on Sunday hunting. The Game Commission's own explanation in the Bulletin notes that the old game lands rule still let non-hunters ride a bike, horse or other non-motorized conveyance there on Sundays, which by then had become legal hunting days. The commission replaced that exception with fixed closure periods to "reduce conflicts with lawful hunting, trapping and fishing activities occurring on Sundays."
This is the second year of Sunday deer hunting. The 2025-26 regular firearms season included Sundays November 30 and December 7. For 2026-27, the commission went further. Its April 11, 2026 announcement says every season includes the Sundays inside its dates, with migratory game birds as the only exception. The same release keeps squirrel, ruffed grouse, rabbit, pheasant, bobwhite quail and woodchuck seasons open during the firearms deer season. So the woods are in use every day of the week through the heart of the season, by more than deer hunters.
The rifle weeks on this year's calendar
The regular firearms deer season is the busiest stretch inside the longer orange window. It opens the Saturday after Thanksgiving, a little over two weeks from now.
- Saturday, November 28: opening day, antlered and antlerless deer statewide
- Sunday, November 29: first open Sunday
- Sunday, December 6: second open Sunday
- Sunday, December 13: closing day, which falls on a Sunday this year
Under the old rule, the orange requirement on game lands started November 15 and ended two days after the season closed. This year it started back on October 1 and runs until January 31, so when the rifle season ends, game lands walkers still have seven weeks of orange left.
Whose land you're on, from Route 220 outward
Each of these places is managed differently. They're listed roughly from strictest to least strict for a walker.
State Game Lands 13. The Game Commission's recreation map calls it the largest state game land in Pennsylvania, at 50,744 acres across Sullivan and Columbia counties. Its western access comes off Route 220, with Route 118 to the south and Route 487 through the east side. The map lists 35 small dirt or grass parking areas, plus about six combined miles of disabled/ATV-accessible roads on Thorndale, Dutchman Swamp and Hemlock Run roads. Every one of those acres falls under the full rule, orange from October through January and again in spring.
State Game Lands 134. This 8,375-acre tract sits on the Lycoming and Sullivan county line in Wildlife Management Unit 3B. It has five Game Commission parking areas, two designated horse/bike trails, and the Northcentral Game Farm, and you can also walk in on foot from neighboring Loyalsock State Forest. Riders who use those designated trails should read the amended riding provision, § 135.41(c)(5), in the Bulletin notice. It now applies October 1 through January 31 and April 20 through May 31, Sundays included, unless you're lawfully hunting, trapping or fishing or have written permission from the Director.
Loyalsock State Forest and the Loyalsock Trail. State forest land follows DCNR rules, not Game Commission game lands rules. DCNR says the forest is generally open to hunting except in safety zones around buildings and picnic areas, and that Sunday hunting follows the dates the Game Commission sets. The 59-mile Loyalsock Trail runs through this forest. DCNR's deer season road table lists Dad Dad Chapman Road, Ellenton Grade, High Rock Spur, Krimm Road, Nettle Ridge Haul Road, Red Ridge, Slab Run, Sugar Camp Mountain Haul Road and others as open from September 19, 2026, through January 31, 2027. That means more vehicles on the forest's back roads through the same months game lands walkers are wearing orange. DCNR doesn't require orange for non-hunters on its forest and park land. Its guidance last year, as reported by WNEP, encouraged visitors to wear orange visible all the way around, stay on trails, avoid dawn and dusk, and put orange gear on dogs.
Worlds End State Park. The Loyalsock Trail passes through the park. DCNR permits hunting daily during established seasons on about 265 acres of the park, and it warns hunters that other visitors are present. The park's hunting boundary map shows which sections are which.
Ricketts Glen State Park. Most of Ricketts Glen, about 10,287 acres, is open to hunting every day during established seasons. The Glens Natural Area and Falls Trail system, along with the main day-use and camping areas, are closed to hunting. On a rifle-season Sunday, the waterfalls loop is one of the few long hikes in the area with no hunting along it.
Eagles Mere Conservancy trails. In its 2022 newsletter, the Conservancy said no hunting is allowed on its trail land. It also said those trails border land that is hunted, and it asked walkers to watch the state's hunting calendar and wear bright orange during hunting season. The Conservancy trails map shows the Fern Rock Nature Trail, Rail Trail, Table Rock Loop and Margaret Estey Path. The newsletter says bicycles are allowed only on the Rail Trail. Eagles Mere Lake and the land around it are private, according to the Eagles Mere Lake Association, and reserved for Association members and guests.
Put together, the requirement depends on whose land you're standing on. On SGL 13 and SGL 134, orange is required by law from October through January and again for six weeks in spring. In Loyalsock State Forest and the hunted parts of Worlds End and Ricketts Glen, hunting goes on daily in season and orange for walkers is a recommendation. On the Ricketts Glen Falls Trail and the Conservancy's Eagles Mere trails, there's no hunting at all, though the land beyond them may be hunted.
This post is general information about published regulations, not legal advice. If a rule affects how you use a particular property or trail, check the linked source or ask the agency that manages the land.
Around Muncy Valley, a lot of rural land backs onto SGL 13, SGL 134 or Loyalsock State Forest. Owners and buyers of that land should know which seasons run next door and how the rules change at the property line. If you own land like that, or you're considering it, the team at Century 21 Colonial Real Estate can walk the boundaries with you and give you a straight answer about the land. Contact Us.
