HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — About 750,000 Pennsylvania hunters will soon be taking to the woods in search of deer.

The two-week general deer season begins Monday. Many call it an unofficial state holiday, since some school districts close for the occasion.

The season opens as wildlife officials are responding to the state’s first cases of chronic wasting disease.

Two captive deer on an Adams County farm died this fall of the neurological illness, which is deadly to elk, deer and moose.

As a precaution, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has established new rules for hunters in parts of Adams and York counties.

The commission stresses that the disease has not been found in wild white-tail deer populations anywhere in the state.

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