Pro-Line

Let me say that I am against mandated AR's.

First off, we manage our camp for larger bucks. AND...
Last I checked...I paid for my land. It's MINE..AND...I am sick and tired of worrying about our neighbors that shoot every single spike that they see.

BUT...if I see a spike that I feel needs to be "culled" from the herd, I want that option. On second thought...It's buck season, and a spike is a buck.

Also, what about the "meat" hunters. Right now in our county (Braxton) we cannot shoot does with a gun outside of the doe season. Do the "gun" hunters have to go deerless because of the regulations? I personaly have no problem with this, because I hunt all seasons....but what about those that don't and are spending close to $200?

Here are 2 big complaints of mine..

1. 90% of the bucks harvested during the year are during gun season....with a large % of them being out-of-state hunters. If they harvest 2 small 8-points...and no does...then they are hurting the herd terribly, as far as mature bucksgo. Many parts of the state allow no taking of does at all with a gun...my county included.

2. GO TO A 1 BUCK LIMIT! Ohio does it...and so do many of the other states. The 3 buck limit is a joke. If a fellow kills 3-8pt's, then he has hurt the herd in his area for years to come.

All this said, I want to set someinput from you guys.Of the last 15 bucks I've killed, only 1 or 2 would have not qualified for AR's. BUT.........I still don't like being told that buck is a buck.

1 buck limit.

Just my opinion

sproulman

AR here in pa.is HALF working..we like it but it will fail unless things change..

hunters are disgusting now in pa..real sportsmen are showing their colors..

meat hunters are shooting the FAWNS.. button bucks are being killed..

kidsare allowed to shoot the small bucks ..adults are carrying or using the kids tags and are shooting at any buck as long as someone in gang has kids tag available..they dont look for 3 points as long as kids tags are available..
i saw kids buying licenses this year, girls with dads and said, THIS IS STUPID, I AINT GOING HUNTING ANYHOW!!dad said,SHUT UP AND SIGN IT!!
this is going to ruin AR ..its not going to work unless things change..

it should be 3 points to side for ALL..then you have this stupid rule IF YOU SHOOT A BUCK BY MISTAKE, YOU PAY A 25 DOLLAR FINE AND GET TO KEEP DEER..

can you believe that one..i like AR but if the outlaws can keep using others tags and meat hunters shoot button bucks, its not going to work..

i only saw 3 fawns this year in a 20 mile area..i used to see 50..

sproulman

we have 2 weeks of doe/buck,wqe used to be 2 weeks of buck only and 3 days of doe here in pa..

doe in wmu2g are close to being wiped out..thats what our great PGC/DCNR want..

i used too see in 20 mile area,100 deer easy, now, its about 20..you are very lucky to even see a fawn now..

they started this early muzzleloader season for a week in oct..its wiping out doe, thats what state of pa wants..

sad i have lived to see this happen..i blame HUNTERS for this also, they dont have to shoot a FAWN or small doe,but i am finding out that meat is all most want now..very sad..

Pro-Line

sproulman...Sadly, I have heard many PA folks say the same thing that you say. A guy I work with has a camp in Bradford area...and he said they used to drive around at night and see 300 deer, easy. Now they are excited when they see one.

I don't want to see the deer wiped out, obviously. I would like to see WV go to a 4 deer total kill...with 1 of those being a buck. I know it's drastic, but Ohio, where I live, has a 2 or 3 deer limit (depending on area) and only 1 can be antlered. (Some areas have a 1 deer limit)

I understand that Ohio and WV are totally different....but each year the kill in OH is steady, and the WV kill is all over the place. This year in OH, they were afraid of a small kill, so they added an extra weekend of gun season a week after the normal gun season. (It was added well before season) There were 25,000+ deer killed in those 2 days. That brought the total to almost exactly what they wanted. The numbers that they wanted killed were published before season....Tell me that someone doesn't know what they're doing at the Ohio DNR.

It'll never happen in WV....There are too many hunters that "have" to kill a bunch of deer. At least that's my opinion.

Rem1100

...if someone has $200 to spend on hunting license...then he'd be better off buying a half a steer if he's "meat" hunting and needs food. the comment about the hunters showing their true colors makes me giggle... it seems as tho our sport isn't as imune to such pathetic acts as we wanna think....
the biggest problem facing the deer herds is mans' encroachment upon it's needed habitat...deer are being ever "pocketed" by growth in the Eastern part of the state. Hampshire Co. ALWAYS stayed in the top 5 kill counties, for years, but no more....not even top 10. why? growth and destruction.

mauser06

i agree 110% with sproulman. PA and WV are somewhat pretty similar states when it comes to hunting. both states were overrun with deer and mismanaged for way to long with way to many guys looking to put spikes on the wall. nature typically births 1:1..hunters need to take 1:1...if states in such bad shape COULD go back and know what the future would loook like m sure they would regulated it from the start...way back.

but now things are so screwed up it aint funny. i went 4 or 5 years of hunting before i seen horns PERIOD. hunted HARD..seen lots of deer. first year of ARs i was 15..i COULD take ANY buck..but the buck i seen and killed that year WAS AR legal..now the deer herd is lacking(AR) EVEN in my area of 2B which is a special reg area which is supposedly overrun with deer..but thats only in heavily populated places(people pops not deer) not farmland where i hunt.

sproulman is 100% correct..ARs would work and would work pretty good and quick if EVERYONE played by the rules. that aint so..exspecially in PA with over 1million hunters..kids, disabled and military can take ANY buck. now.....im all for them folks being able to kill a deer...why not gaurentee them doe tags where they wish to hunt? these folks will be just as happy with a doe as they will with a small buck...and somehow control the illegal kills. theres WAY more illegal kills then the game commission thinks. you cant tell me all them little bucks i see every year were killed by the special reg hunters(youth disabled and military) and you cant tell me all them 1.5yr old bucks are just TOO smart to be seen. we dont even see them spotting!

HR also decimated the herd and buck numbers...but when you got doe hunters BBs WILL be killed. some guys dont know how to tell. sometimes its tough to tell.

alot of PA hunters are upset...the PGC is hurting for money..if these guys quit hunting they will be REALLY hurting for money...DUH..something needs done....PA needs to wake up. people dont like to change! im not saying GO BACK...but results need to be seen...and the herd needs to grow in a bunch of areas or hunters wont HUNT...

WV.....dont be sad...ALOT of PA hunters are rather upset. some are happy but youve all read our posts...ARs with NO special restrictions and no illegal takers would be awesome...youd see results pretty quick...but that aint the case in reality..

ash2042

What would the restrictions be?

Pro-Line

ash...I was looking at 3 or 4pts on one side. Just speculating....

And, as someone who has hunted PA and WV...I think that they are worlds apart when it comes to hunting. PA has a million hunters during gun season (at least that's what I've read a hundred times) and we have NO-ONE (to speak of) hunting in our area anymore. It's rare for us to see a hunter while in the woods, and we are in a remote area,20 miles or so from the closest town. We used to see a ton of hunters. Now all we see are lazy a$$es on 4-wheelers riding around hoping for a 10-pt to jump out.

I'm also speaking from a Central WV area, as I know nothing about the eastern part of the state.

Maybe some zone-type laws would help WV.

HuntinGUS

I just not convinced that is the answer. I hunt in Wirt co and there ar loads of deer there. There are plenty of scraggly spikes and 3 points that are young, but there are also 3 and 4 year old deer that are still spikes and fork horns. Under an AR, these deer would continue to walk and breed. If we just limit the number of bucks that are allowed, some people will kill the scragglers and alot more does will be taken out.

Are you from WV bigcountry?

ash2042

I agree I also do not see the hunters I used to. I just wish something could be done to give our area a little better chance for larger racked bucks.