Pennsylvania's firearm deer season begins

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania's hunters are hitting the state's woods and fields for the start of deer season.  Many school districts in Lawrence and Mercer counties are closed for the opening day.

The state's two-week firearm season for whitetail deer started Monday with some central Pennsylvania hunters under extra restrictions because of a deadly disease found in captive deer earlier this year.

Hunters who take deer in  600-square-mile area covering parts of York and Adams counties must have them tested for chronic wasting disease. The neurological infection can't be transmitted to humans but is deadly to elk, moose and deer.

Two deer on Adams County farms died of the disease earlier this year, making them the first cases reported in the state. No infections have been reported in the wild population.

About 750,000 hunters are expected to take part in deer season.