BTBowhunter

No stones cast at anyone. It was merely a statement that many successul hunters dont feel any need to be on this forum. Draw whatever conclusion you wish from my personal presence. Your opinion of me or any any particular member here is of no matter to me. A simple look back at your posts over the last months pretty well proves you produce very little original thought and without your cheap shots at myself and a few others, you'd have virtually nothing to post about.

DougE

There is no possibility that I'm not telling the truth.I also don't disagree that the hunting is poor in many places Around here.The only thing I can say about that is the hunting should be poor in these areas because the habitat skinks.The same people hunt these areas year after year and continue to complain about no deer.It's actually very easy to hunt around here because there's so many places to avoid.Find the areas that should hold decent numbers and you'll find decent hunting.I here way more complaining on these boards than I do talking to people face to face.

I don't claim to be a super hunter either.I'm an average person with less time than most to hunt and scout.So far this rifle season,I've only hunted the first day and the first saturday.I actually planned on hunting this afternoon but it would most likely be a waste of time with the snow crusted over and the high winds.

ManySpurs

No, hunting in 2G isn't like hunting in a high fence preserve. In a high fence preserve of any size, I would expect the deer herd to be managed on a capacity with both hunters and herd health in mind. In my area of 2G, hunters have been thrown by the wayside thanks to a management policy that doesn't control where antlerless tags are used which leads to gross overharvest on state held properties. Thanks to the last near decade of overharvest, deer numbers are now low enough that predators are now controling the herd.

The PGC has absolutely no control on herd numbers any longer whether they wish to lower the herd, stabilize the herd, or allow the herd to increase. Predators now hold the cards and until predator numbers(particularly bears) are brought down, the PGC, so far as deer management in 2G is concerned, is a useless entity that is no longer needed.

A high fence operation is managed. 2G is not.

DougE

What reports have I made about seeing legal bucks?I haven't seen a legal buck that I could identify this rifle season,although I've seen 8-12 does both days.Last year was a different story.My buddy that's been hunting with me has seen way more deer than me because I'm trying to push deer to him.He doesn't hunt doe and he doesn't shoot bucks unless he plans on mounting them.

I don't know why less pressure would equate to more successful hunting.The deer simply lay down in the thick cover and don't move unless they have to.There's acorns everywhere this year and the deer don't even have to get up and feed.More pressure would keep the deer moving and increase my sightings.I'd love to see a few more guys in the woods.The days of watching an open hillside where you can see more hundreds of yards and expecting deer movement are long gone.The guys that go about that approach are the ones complaining about no deer.

pats102862

Doug understands the whitetail deer and their habitat. It's obvious some here don't. Instead of trying to learn, they attack his success. Some people here must have hunted for years, kill deer, and never really understood what made it happen.

Cornelius08

I have no problem believing dougs success stories. I simply think they have nothing to do with debate in regards to other hunters satisfaction. Dougs successful, Im successful , some others are as well...But for each of us that are, there are a helluva lot who arent. Not to mention how satisfaction, for me anyway isnt solely measured on a filled tag . Less buck sited during a season is not a better season. More deerless sighting days are not better season. Seeing fewer good buck is not a better season. Hearing all the complaints from others is not a better season. And I could go on and on...

Also, Ive seen the comments about guys not being able to kill deer from their computer, other times its said they should hunt harder, go in deeper, etc. etc. etc.

Fact is, when speaking of our ranks overall, its a good thing that with our current herd size that there ARE so many who dont kill deer, no matter the reason. Cant kill more deer than we already are from current herd size without further reducing it. The harvest wouldnt be sustainable and would drop each year the herd declined further...Which is already happening as a trend with an ever shrinking herd in many areas and no reasonable allocation reductions in sight.

As for an even smaller herd, I dont think thats what most hunters are hoping to have happen, and certainly not in the best interest of our sport.

So love it or hate it, the general harvest level basically is what it is. Without herd increase, there is no room for added harvest on a sustainable basis. Physically and numerically impossible.

Also worth mentioning that some of us who are consistently successful still dont buy what pgc is selling. Most hunters I know who are successful or not around here aint buyin' it.

Windwalker7

Its funny how comments are made about spending too much time on the forum are made by the guy with the highest post count.

BTBowhunter

First, What I said was that many successful hunters feel no need to be on here. Remember, I said Many, not all

I do have a high post count. But then, I'm not complaining about the quality of PA hunting.

Of course, like a few others here, your point leaves out some very relevant information and makes your statement incomplete and misleading. I've been a member here since 1998. My join date shows as Feb 2003 which happens to be the earliest join date you'll see for any member since it coincides with the last big server crash that zeroed everyones post count out and I've always used this username. Based on that, I post an average of about 82 posts per month.

Two of our biggest complainers here average 163 and 168 posts per month. One of them also has 5 documented user names since the crash date of Feb 2003.

Funny how the real facts can change the story eh?

Cornelius08

" I post an average of about 82 posts per month."

Averages come in handy dont they? Especially when they can be used to decieve and not show the true facts of the matter. In some of the childish namecalling sessions youve initiated youve made that many in a week. You post far more now than you did back "then", so as usual your words hold zero water. Figured it wouldnt be long before it would no longer be "civil". Funny how it gets that way when you arent in Illinois. Guess stayin' out there for half the huntin' season might make some difference to your post count as well?

Funny how we are called complainers, yet you say you havent even "gotten into" Pa hunting deer yet this season,(and most others recent years from what youve said) because you prefer to hunt Illinois most of the season...Then dont hunt here anyttime the weather is less than perfect. Real avid Pa hunter to scold everyone else! Also real funny to accuse bb of other aliases when you have used other aliases to vote with to skew polls and been busted.

bluebird2

Then you don't understand deer or the effects of heavy hunting pressure. The more hunting pressure you have the first few days the fewer deer you will have less deer to hunt for the rest of the season. The more pressure you have the more the deer will move to the thickest cover or further away from the roads making them more difficult to hunt. Pressured deer are more alert, harder to drive and will run a lot further when jumped than unpressured deer.

Wrong, there are a lot of good hunters that are complaining about seeing very few deer. I Last Sunday I check a 4 yr. old cut for tracks after a snow storm than ended around 9 PM on Sat. and didn't in a tract after walking about a mile. We only saw two deer in that tract after 5 days of hunting. That is what really heavy hunting pressure does to a herd.