Out-of-staters get the go-ahead Monday to begin hunting. Saturday was residents-only hunting.

The season ends the Saturday following Thanksgiving, Nov. 24.

Weather forecasts were not looking encouraging for the season’s start this week. But hunters hoped that there would be more deer out there, after a relatively mild winter and early spring that enhanced forage for the white-tails.

The muzzleloader season will begin on Nov. 26 and end Dec. 1 statewide, with a second one-week season running from Dec. 3-8 in a limited number of designated hunting districts.