scorp

I have never seen a post on small game or upland birds here on these forums. If PA is so great for hunting why is there no talk or pictures of small game animals or birds? It is allways talk of deer and their decline. It's because PA sucks for small game animals and all we have is deer or had was deer to look forward to. The way some talk on here there is other game animal that are as abundant as deer as in grouse,pheasants and rabbits. Deer is the only game we had the best chance of getting here in PA and now they are becoming as hard to find and hunt as the elusive grouse and the find a pheasant 2 weeks after they stock them. All most impossible to do so. The only place I see rabbits any more is in the city limits and suburbs. Yes, PA is also the number one small game and bird capitol of all the country. LMFAO.

rybohunter

If hunting in PA is so bad, please quit & go away.

bluebird2

If 500K hunters quit are you willing to kill 5 or 6 doe/year to control the herd?

BTBowhunter

Only if thats all the tags that are available

R.S.B.

I don’t know where or how you hunt but I can assure you the guys that hunt actually hunt small game around seem to do very well provided they hunt the correct habitats for the species they are trying to find.

I check dozens upon dozens of hunters in the fall that have harvested their limit of grouse and that is usually only after missing a lot more of them. Of course they are guys with dogs and hunting habitat where knowledgably hunters would expect to find grouse.

We have some good farmland types habitat areas where I can find hunters not only hunting for but harvesting pheasants well after any have been stocked in the area. Many of those hunters, again those with dogs, can harvest a limit of pheasants pretty much every day they hunt.

I few days ago I posted some pictures of volunteers doing habitat work in area where I have checked many rabbit hunters, with dogs, that had several rabbits in their game bags and fully expecting to limit out before the quit for the day.

But then I also talk to a lot of deer hunters that are still finding it pretty easy to not only find but also to harvest a deer in these part of the state.
Funny thing is it is mostly all public land too.

Of course thesuccessful huntersI am checking are the ones that are out hunting instead of sitting at home or in a bar complaining about how bad the hunting is.

R.S. Bodenhorn

WV Gino

>If 500K hunters quit are you willing to kill 5 or 6 doe/year to control the herd?

I have averaged 5 deer a year for at least the last 15 years so I would say that's a YEP. In fact I am willing to step up to 8 or 9 year if that's what it would take.

WV Gino

R.S.B.

You bet I would be. Once I retire I figure I will have enough time to kill that many deer easily.

Just the wife and I can use about three or four deer a year. Then with giving a few deer to the other family members that either don’t have a hunter living in the family any more or are just too old to hunt, even twice that many deer wouldn’t be too many.

But, it is a mute point anyway since there is no reason to expect anyway near that many hunters to quit, even in the next several decades.

R.S. Bodenhorn

Cornelius08

Plain and simple Pa sux. Compare to any REAL hunting state and Pa is a joke. Problem starts with the management and ends with the management.

Pa may be one of the best places to hunt if you are looking to find birdwatchers on gamelands picking wildflowers though.

scorp

How the hell can that be whenunder 25% of the licensed hunters harvest a deer. So lets have your numbers there. How many hunters are you talking that are successful where you are at RSB? From what gino,you and dougie and a couple others on here say about bagging more than 4+ deer a season and if there are that many hunters out there who you all claim have no problem bagging multiple numbers of deer. What is the % of licensed hunters who actually bag a deer? 10% maybe lower from yours and other comments? Remember 33% of hunters took a deer if they only took one deer each from the numbers printed. This isn't the success rate of hunters. And you said PA was the best hunting around for someone to have a chance to bag a deer? You just got proven wrong once again on that subject that PA was a great state for hunting. What% of hunters do you say are successful there RSB from yours and others comments on here about taking multiple deer? Oh yea, you few are the only ones who took 3 to 5 deer each.Everyone else only took one. Lets try 16% of the hunters only bagged a deer if they each took 2. Now defend that. LMFAO

cardeeer

Usually I can see a deer within 15 minutes on any hunting day where I hunt. And it is not Pa. I hunted over 50 years and seen the decline in almost all species in Pa. This past year It took only 5 minutes to see deer in another state. I remeber hunting pheasant and flushing dozens of birds the first hour. Normally would have our limit by 10 am. The deer by 9 am. I wish the younger pa. hunter could go back in time and experience what us old timers are talking about. I quit hunting pa,But the last yearsI hunted in pa. I would hear the younger people say. WOW I seen lots of deer this week.3 on Wednesday. Communication gap I would say. Now the 71 deer I seen this year at my new hunting state in three days would qualify for I seen alot of deer.Pa has a terrible image among other states. When my new neighbors found out I was from Pa they were ready to hang me.One guy yelled at me. Go home you ( you brown its down clown).