deaddeer

Here is a little known fact that you will never be revealed by the PGC. We are now harvesting a higher percentage of our buck as BB than ever before!

In 1999,before Alt was appointed, 18% of the male deer harvested were BB. In 2002 25% of the males harvested were BB and in 2003 it increased to 27%, even though we decreased the percentage of fawns in the anterless harvest from 46% to 39%. So, while AR increased the harvest of 2.5+ buck by 17%, it decreased the antlered buck harvest by 30% and increased the number of males harvested as BB by 9%.

Also, although the PGC has not released any current data ,prior to AR ,3 % of the anterless harvest were adult buck that had lost their racks. That stat was when the anterless harvest occurred after the antlered season and 80% of the antlered deer had been removed from the herd. Now that AR protects more buck , more of those buck will be harvested as anterless deer in the late ML season and in SRA counties where rifles can be used in the late season.

Those are some of the reasons why the 2003 harvest was much lower than expected and why future buck harvests will remain far below the harvests of 2000 and 2001.Back to top

BTBowhunter

Dont forget the few (thank god) greedy, inconsiderate nimrods who either kill BB's intentionally or are such lousy hunters that they can't outwit a mature doe! [:'(]

I've heard that type kills as much as 83% BB's[:'(]

deaddeer

And don't forget that because more hunters passed on fawns in 2003 the anterless harvest decreased by 30K and after 4 years of Alt management we have had zero,herd reduction even though that was the primary goal of Alt's plan.

Now just what did Alt do to encourage herd reduction ? Well for the first time he created a protectected class of deer by implementing Ar which prevent 38K buck from being harvested in 2002 . In addition, he ask hunters not to shoot small deer, which if every hunter followed that advice, would remove 46% of the anterless deer from the harvest. In other words he screwed up royaly by protecting more deer from being harvested even though the antrless season was increased by 400% and we have an all time record of over 1M anterless tags being issued.

livbucks

And don't forget, don't kill all the BB this year or you will see no bucks on your land for yet another year!

chickory

They can't prevent the 20 to 24% of antlered deer being shot with the antlerless harvest. No state has, the more emphasis ya' put on antlerless harvest the more antlered deer you take in the form of BB or mature buck that have lost thier antlers in the latest part of the season.

Just a fact of deer hunting. You can pretend it won't happen, you can close your eyes and wish for no BB to get whacked, but it will happen a percentage of the time. And it is showing in pa's last few dropping buck harvests. Of course this was known up front by biologists and was studied in many states before pa ever dreamed up its mediocre plan to reduce the herd. Ok, Ok.... lousy plan.

For a state that was supposedly on the verge of a habitat collapse (?) it sure seems funny our deer plan by our esteemed deer team has done nothing to reduce the herd one bit. A failure on habitat restoration.

And dropping buck harvests, as well as doe, means its failing to meet up to what was promised with 'more and bigger bucks' also.

Take those two failures and stack on top the fact that DCNR and the PGC have misled hunters on the use of DMAP and you have a deer management agenda that has not met up to expectations.

I think it will truly hit a new low when the PGC proposes to placate DCNR with a new rifle season in archery and muzzleloader in state forests. That will really cap a 5 year period that will define a new low for deer management in pa.

cardeer

Shooting a BB happens,but can be avoided most the time if the hunter would take sometime and learn the way to ID a button and stop shooting at a running deer and act like they are playing a video game. In bow season I feel there aint no excuse to shoot a BB by mistake. At that close range it easy to see what it is. And usually a small deer alone and very curious and acting stupis is usually always a button.

deaddeer

Shooting BB cannot be avoided while reducing the herd by 50%. In 2003 hunnters decreased the harvest of fawns by 38K and as a result the anterless harvest dropped by 30K and therefore there was no reduction in the herd after 4 years of Alt's plan. There is no way we can protect 45% of the anterless population and still get the herd reduction Alt claims is necesssary.

livbucks

I'm having de'ja vu....all over again twice.

Bob H in NH

Not sure where all you folks hunt, but I just came back from Potter county and the deer herd is DRASTICALLY lowered over several years ago. Where I hunt is all public land so that may make a difference.

I have been going to this spot for 7 years now with two friends. When we started, before AR started, it was normal to see deer on every time in the woods, usually several and it was VERY common to have groups of doe come by. The three of us always each took a deer.

This year, was the second "poor" year in a row. However I saw my first ever buck in the woods and shot it a little 8 point, he was with a 3 and a 4 point, 4 pt was actually the biggest). One guy went home empty for the second year in a row, third guy shot a doe.

We routinely go out spotting at night and make about a 30-40 minute loop, when we started doing this, going past several fields and gas lines in the woods, a bad night would turn up only 50-100 deer. this year we did it, and saw a total of 7 deer one night, 9 the next.

At least in this area the herd is WAY down, but buck sightings are up.

--Bob

Ruddyduck

give me the http to the website you got you data. My understanding that in the first year of new antlerless regulations that the BB take of antlerless deer went from 60% of the antlerless deer taken to 16% in the first year.
Again let's have link to your numbers