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Is PA better hunting after the AR and Doe regulation change
04-02-2008, 04:54 PM
#41
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Southwestern, Pennsylvania
Posts: 1,059
RE: Is PA better hunting after the AR and Doe regulation change
Hunters killed an estimated 361,560 deer in the 2006-07 seasons, similar to the 2005-06 estimated tally of 354,390, according to Pennsylvania Game Commission figures released recently. Hunters took 135,290 antlered deer in the 2006-07 seasons, compared to the previous year's harvest of 120,500. They also killed 226,270 antlerless deer in 2006-07, compared to 233,890 in 2005-06. The 2006-07 antlerless deer license allocation was reduced by two percent, from 879,000 to 859,000.
Deer-kill estimates for 2006-07 seasons are based on 136,932 usable report cards (50,099 antlered; 86,833 antlerless) returned by hunters to the commission and 29,581 deer (10,283 antlered; 19,298 antlerless) examined by Game Commission personnel in the field and at processors.
Deer-kill estimates for 2006-07 seasons are based on 136,932 usable report cards (50,099 antlered; 86,833 antlerless) returned by hunters to the commission and 29,581 deer (10,283 antlered; 19,298 antlerless) examined by Game Commission personnel in the field and at processors.
04-02-2008, 05:04 PM
#42
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Southwestern, Pennsylvania
Posts: 1,059
RE: Is PA better hunting after the AR and Doe regulation change
04-02-2008, 09:06 PM
#44
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Indiana PA USA
Posts: 3,656
RE: Is PA better hunting after the AR and Doe regulation change
It definitely is a two way street in my area. There are definitely more bucks and bigger bucks. I haven't seen the major jump in antler size that others have as the area I hunt had a good number of big bucks before the AR's kicked in. The major difference is the doe numbers and the herd reduction being taken too far. I agree with Fran, you can have you cake and eat it to in alto of the state. Fran and I both hunt SW PA and this area has some of the best habitat in the country for deer. To say that the herd was higher than the carrying capacity in this area is a joke. It isn't uncommon for a 200 acre piece of woods made mostly of hardwoods to be surrounded by 300 acres of corn, clover, alfalfa, and soybean fields. You mix the mast crop with the farmers crops, and the deer don't really have a major reason to do a lot of browsing from the spring right up till the winter sets in. In that amount of time, the undergrowth has a chance to pop up and more than support the deer through the winter until spring green up. Now, these 200 acre patches of timber use to hold too many deer, it wouldn't be uncommon to push 50-60 deer out of this single patch of woods in rifle season, now those same patches of woods are lucky to hold 5 or 6 deer. Hell, last night I saw the biggest group of deer that I have seen in a long time and that was nine deer. That is a "yarded up" herd, and it was on a piece of property that is 150 acres of woods and around 100 acres of corn and soybean fields. Yes, the herd needed thinned out, but it has gotten a little out of hand. Buck to doe ratio has went from out of whack, to good, and now the opposite side of the spectrum. It started out at probably a one buck for every ten doe ratio, went to a one to one, and now it on my properties, it is probably a three buck to every doe ratio. This isn't scientific data, just what I have witnessed from spending most of archery season in stand last season, plus running trail cameras and all my scouting.
The major problem now is the posted property. The does move into any posted property and stay there because of the little to no hunting pressure. When archery season rolls around, they are on these properties and the bucks move in, thus cutting the chances for a hunter on the neighboring land to be successful. With deer numbers declining and available land being swallowed up and posted, it is causing more hunters to be forced into smaller areas. This increase in pressure does nothing more than driving the deer onto private property where they become overpopulated.
I have been a supporter of QDM and antler restrictions, but lately I wonder just what it is doing to our sport. The days of guys getting together and having a good time hunting are starting to go to the way side. Its all about big antlers which in turn means that its all about big bucks ($) **good pun
** The guys who enjoy the family aspect of hunting and view it more as a fun past time are being pushed out. I have been very fortunate to acquire permission to the lands I hunt, and it took awhile for me to get permission to bring my friends onto the property to hunt, but I am worried about where I am going to be in a few years as the property owners are getting older.
I will end by saying that yes, I love seeing bigger bucks, but I do really miss the days of going out and knowing that I was going to have the pleasure of just seeing deer. I am glad that I got my start when I did as if I wasn't so hooked to hunting, I feel bad for the kids who want to get into the sport now. They can put in alto of time and effort hunting public land and possibly not see a single deer all season. That has got to be disheartening to the newbie and may just cause them to give up.
The major problem now is the posted property. The does move into any posted property and stay there because of the little to no hunting pressure. When archery season rolls around, they are on these properties and the bucks move in, thus cutting the chances for a hunter on the neighboring land to be successful. With deer numbers declining and available land being swallowed up and posted, it is causing more hunters to be forced into smaller areas. This increase in pressure does nothing more than driving the deer onto private property where they become overpopulated.
I have been a supporter of QDM and antler restrictions, but lately I wonder just what it is doing to our sport. The days of guys getting together and having a good time hunting are starting to go to the way side. Its all about big antlers which in turn means that its all about big bucks ($) **good pun
** The guys who enjoy the family aspect of hunting and view it more as a fun past time are being pushed out. I have been very fortunate to acquire permission to the lands I hunt, and it took awhile for me to get permission to bring my friends onto the property to hunt, but I am worried about where I am going to be in a few years as the property owners are getting older.I will end by saying that yes, I love seeing bigger bucks, but I do really miss the days of going out and knowing that I was going to have the pleasure of just seeing deer. I am glad that I got my start when I did as if I wasn't so hooked to hunting, I feel bad for the kids who want to get into the sport now. They can put in alto of time and effort hunting public land and possibly not see a single deer all season. That has got to be disheartening to the newbie and may just cause them to give up.
04-02-2008, 10:58 PM
#46
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Central Pennsylvania
Posts: 2,313
RE: Is PA better hunting after the AR and Doe regulation change
http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/v...9&q=173813
Something I would like to point out, if you look at that website and look at the counties of those bucks, You'll notice, none of them are around my 4D county, I feel that i have a Bias opinion because I havent ever hunted anywhere outside of my WMU however, i can honestly say i can walk for 15 miles and not see a deer (in my WMU) so for me the deer herd in my area has been cut down by a long shot. I understand what they were trying to accomplish, but they should have figured out a better way to organize it into different sections of the state. Most of the bucks I saw this year had broken/deformed racks and I did however see a noticable size increase from past years, so for me Deer hunting in Pennsylvania Sucks because if I do go out hunting its a mircale if i see one deer per 7 days of hunting. It upsets and frustrates me that I can hunt every day of the seasons and see little to no deer. I dont hunt in the same spot ither i shift around quite a bit. The bottom line for me is, around my area (Altoona) there is a big time drop in deer popluation.
With that being said I want to point out that everytime i head west or south (pittsburgh or down toward Maryland) i notice a HUGE increase in deer population. I would go to pittsburgh every week for games and i would see obscene amounts of deer, which tells me that the game comission should have issued more liscenses for there and less for back toward my home range. Just my opinion and i feel that i have been cheated overall.
Ryan.
Something I would like to point out, if you look at that website and look at the counties of those bucks, You'll notice, none of them are around my 4D county, I feel that i have a Bias opinion because I havent ever hunted anywhere outside of my WMU however, i can honestly say i can walk for 15 miles and not see a deer (in my WMU) so for me the deer herd in my area has been cut down by a long shot. I understand what they were trying to accomplish, but they should have figured out a better way to organize it into different sections of the state. Most of the bucks I saw this year had broken/deformed racks and I did however see a noticable size increase from past years, so for me Deer hunting in Pennsylvania Sucks because if I do go out hunting its a mircale if i see one deer per 7 days of hunting. It upsets and frustrates me that I can hunt every day of the seasons and see little to no deer. I dont hunt in the same spot ither i shift around quite a bit. The bottom line for me is, around my area (Altoona) there is a big time drop in deer popluation.
With that being said I want to point out that everytime i head west or south (pittsburgh or down toward Maryland) i notice a HUGE increase in deer population. I would go to pittsburgh every week for games and i would see obscene amounts of deer, which tells me that the game comission should have issued more liscenses for there and less for back toward my home range. Just my opinion and i feel that i have been cheated overall.
Ryan.
04-03-2008, 08:14 AM
#47
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Howard PA USA
Posts: 2,221
RE: Is PA better hunting after the AR and Doe regulation change
ORIGINAL: my7pointmonster
http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/v...a=519&q=173813
Something I would like to point out, if you look at that website and look at the counties of those bucks, You'll notice, none of them are around my 4D county, I feel that i have a Bias opinion because I havent ever hunted anywhere outside of my WMU however, i can honestly say i can walk for 15 miles and not see a deer (in my WMU) so for me the deer herd in my area has been cut down by a long shot. I understand what they were trying to accomplish, but they should have figured out a better way to organize it into different sections of the state. Most of the bucks I saw this year had broken/deformed racks and I did however see a noticable size increase from past years, so for me Deer hunting in Pennsylvania Sucks because if I do go out hunting its a mircale if i see one deer per 7 days of hunting. It upsets and frustrates me that I can hunt every day of the seasons and see little to no deer. I dont hunt in the same spot ither i shift around quite a bit. The bottom line for me is, around my area (Altoona) there is a big time drop in deer popluation.
With that being said I want to point out that everytime i head west or south (pittsburgh or down toward Maryland) i notice a HUGE increase in deer population. I would go to pittsburgh every week for games and i would see obscene amounts of deer, which tells me that the game comission should have issued more liscenses for there and less for back toward my home range. Just my opinion and i feel that i have been cheated overall.
Ryan.
http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/v...a=519&q=173813
Something I would like to point out, if you look at that website and look at the counties of those bucks, You'll notice, none of them are around my 4D county, I feel that i have a Bias opinion because I havent ever hunted anywhere outside of my WMU however, i can honestly say i can walk for 15 miles and not see a deer (in my WMU) so for me the deer herd in my area has been cut down by a long shot. I understand what they were trying to accomplish, but they should have figured out a better way to organize it into different sections of the state. Most of the bucks I saw this year had broken/deformed racks and I did however see a noticable size increase from past years, so for me Deer hunting in Pennsylvania Sucks because if I do go out hunting its a mircale if i see one deer per 7 days of hunting. It upsets and frustrates me that I can hunt every day of the seasons and see little to no deer. I dont hunt in the same spot ither i shift around quite a bit. The bottom line for me is, around my area (Altoona) there is a big time drop in deer popluation.
With that being said I want to point out that everytime i head west or south (pittsburgh or down toward Maryland) i notice a HUGE increase in deer population. I would go to pittsburgh every week for games and i would see obscene amounts of deer, which tells me that the game comission should have issued more liscenses for there and less for back toward my home range. Just my opinion and i feel that i have been cheated overall.
Ryan.
Ryan I agree and disagree with you on WMU 4D. I also do the majority of my hunting in 4D. Mainly just outside of State College. And there are parts of 4D that the deer numbers are good and there are some extremely nice bucks coming from. One that comes to mind is the Penns Valley area which is a very good mix of farmland and mountains. But there are also some areas where the population is way down such as some of the State Forests and big woods areas of 4D. I travel a good part of 4D and have seen some of the monster buck that have been taken from 4D and trust me the numbers are deffinitly up.
04-03-2008, 10:04 AM
#48
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 7,208
RE: Is PA better hunting after the AR and Doe regulation change
With that being said I want to point out that everytime i head west or south (pittsburgh or down toward Maryland) i notice a HUGE increase in deer population. I would go to pittsburgh every week for games and i would see obscene amounts of deer, which tells me that the game comission should have issued more liscenses for there and less for back toward my home range. Just my opinion and i feel that i have been cheated overall.
04-03-2008, 10:13 AM
#49
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: York,Pa
Posts: 2,645
RE: Is PA better hunting after the AR and Doe regulation change
Hey (pahardwoods) what did Alt really do for our bear here? Just a question? Nothing has changed the season is still the same 3 days and hell is some wmu you can shoot them in deer season?
04-03-2008, 11:08 AM
#50
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Phoenixville, PA USA
Posts: 5,541
RE: Is PA better hunting after the AR and Doe regulation change
ORIGINAL: rybohunter
There ARE more license issued for the Pittsburgh WMU than hunters buy. It doesn't sell out. They could issue a million licenses for the unit and still not impact the numbers. You can't kill what you can't access. And as a smaller issue on top of that, far too many guys in my opinion, don't shoot any(or few) does in allegheny co, cause they are always hoping for the big one. Tons of guys I talked to never bothered going out even during the "doe only" season we have in fear of having ot let a buck walk. [&:]That is an unhealthy obsession there.
With that being said I want to point out that everytime i head west or south (pittsburgh or down toward Maryland) i notice a HUGE increase in deer population. I would go to pittsburgh every week for games and i would see obscene amounts of deer, which tells me that the game comission should have issued more liscenses for there and less for back toward my home range. Just my opinion and i feel that i have been cheated overall.
I think the PGC is to the point now where they need to reduce the number of antlerless tags throughout the state and figure out ways to work with landowners in the urban areas to allow guys to hunt. The PGC does very little to encourage landowner participation in management.