Firearms deer hunting season began Saturday, with a Sunday hunt permissible.

On the traditional Monday that was opening day of firearms deer hunting season, two butchers noted how they were busy processing shanks of venison, much of it going to be donated to Hunters Sharing the Harvest.

A firearms dealer in Hughesville observed that the most popular purchases have been rifles and shotguns.

“We’re steady,” said David Gross, owner of Gross’s Custom Butchering at 1060 Upper Powys Road. “It’s close to average,” he said.

KAREN VIBERT-KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Dave Gross of Gross's Custom Butchering processes a deer at the business in Cogan Station on Monday.

Inside, the shop was bustling with activity as deer were brought in for processing.

Skilled cutters, each deftly using their sharp knives on the venison, cut it up and then sent it to the vacuum packager.

Outside the shop, the customers’ deer and a mid-size black bear were waiting to be processed.

Gross said he takes part in Hunters Sharing the Harvest, a hunter-inspired community service outreach that gets hunter-donated venison to a network of approved deer processors.

The state’s premiere venison donation program has been helping to feed the less fortunate and hungry since 1991. It gets to the food banks and some local charitable provider organizations throughout the state’s rural and urban communities.

Each year, venison is donated to more than 5,000 food banks, soup kitchens and mission outreach centers statewide, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

Since 1991, families and individuals with access to the food banks can put nutritious protein-and-vitamin-rich food on the table for themselves and their children, the PGC said.

An average-sized deer will provide enough high-protein, low-fat meat for 200 servings.

Gross’s is a traditional butchering site that goes back to 1976 when it was on Lycoming Creek Road and owned by Dave’s father, Bill. A dozen years later, the shop was built at the Upper Poweys Road location.

Several hundred deer were processed at the shop that were killed during archery hunting season and there was also an earlier muzzle loading season along with temperatures in the 60s and 70s.

Custom butchering and Hunters Sharing the Harvest processing also is done at Gibson’s Custom Butchering on Beaver Lake Road near Hughesville.

The butchery was busier Monday than Saturday, said Gary Gibson, who said the shop also participates as a certified processing location for Hunters Sharing the Harvest.

“We had over 200 deer to process from archery season,” he said.

Firearms sales ahead of hunting season were “decent,” according to a spokesman at The Blued Barrel Gun Shop on Route 220 and Railroad Street in Hughesville.

Types of firearms that were sold and most popular were rifles and shotguns, such as .243 and 30 06 and 410 to 12-gauge for shotguns, he said.

As usual, hunters have a legal obligation to report their harvest. They must put the hunting license number and field harvest tag number online, or call the PCG or send the information by mail. The online site is HuntFishPA and the PCG phone number is 1-800-838-4431. The hunter has 10 days in which to report the harvest, the commission said.

Whether that’s deer processing done at a traditional seasonal butcher shop, or a firearms dealer selling a new rifle or shotgun, the economic benefit of hunting can’t be overlooked.

Over the next two weeks and during earlier archery and muzzleloading season, 1 million hunters have tried to bag a buck or a doe or small game, according to economic data from Hunting Works for Pa.

Hunters support over 15,000 jobs across the commonwealth, and help to generate $529 million in salaries and wages. Hunters spend an average $986 million annually and each hunter, on average, will spend $1,260 each year on the sport.

Moreover, hunting generates about $121 million in state and local taxes and $136 million in federal taxes, with a bottom line economic boon of $1.6 billion for Pennsylvania.