Two buck tags but we can't use semi's, Pa hunting is a joke anymore. What's next, more zones, more overlapping seasons.
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Two buck tags but we can't use semi's, Pa hunting is a joke anymore. What's next, more zones, more overlapping seasons.
The spirit of a proposal to sell 10,000 additional permits to harvest bucks simply for the sake of generating revenue without regard to the mission of the PA Game Commission which is to manage, protect, propagate and preserve the wildlife of the Commonwealth ......is frankly an affront to the sportsmen who have worked and volunteered to further conservation and land ethics since the inception of the commission itself.
What it blatantly says is exactly what we do not want the PA Game Commission to become. That the wildlife of the Commonwealth are simply objects by which the Commission uses to generate income to support their positions. Objects which belong to the citizens of the Commonwealth and whose management has been entrusted to the Commission.
At least they could pump a little sunshine and say we need to have more antlered bucks removed for the benefit of the herd, oh and by the way.....only someone who can afford $150 gets the privilege to do that.
So what are these horrible reasons you speak of? Last year there were approximately 330,000 bucks taken out of 912,000 availible buck tags. Even if the success rate is 100% that's still only 3% of the overall total which is statistically insignificant given the amount of fluctuation in hunter success from year to year. Since the more realistical harvest would be closer to 3,000 bucks taken it has even less of an impact on the herd while theoretically providing an additional $1 million to the PGC. This would offset the approximate $1.5 million reduction in license sales over the past 10 years.
Now for the bad, I think it unfairly benefits archery hunters as they are the only ones that have the chance to tag a buck prior to rifle season. The biggest push for this is the bow hunters that tag out in the early season and have to wait until the second week to go out hunting for does. They would be the primary purchasers of this tag as I doubt many hunters are going to drop that kind of money for a second buck tag from the beginning. Since I have only killed bucks in rifle and have never seen more that one a year if that i know I'm not going to be spending $100 before the season in the hopes that I happen to see a second buck.
I think a better way would be to allow inlines during the late flintlock season and have the tag valid then, that would give both archery guys and rifle guys a chance to get a first buck before trying for a second.
As for the hogs I'm not sure we could see the same population explosion they have down south. From my understanding while they can have three liters a year down there due to the cold weather we get up here they may have only one litter a year. However I could be mistaken as I don't remember where I heard that.
What your first analysis says is that the current management model with its various antler restrictions by zones, has room for additional harvests. So how scientific is it really if we are going to say that a portion of the deer herd is statistically insignificant and worthy of selling to the general public under the the management theory of - generating revenue.
Perhaps a better way would be to claim that the management model is scientifically foundational and as such there is no wiggle room for using the wildlife as simply a resource for generating revenue. Understanding that opening this door a crack could lead to the expansion of this tactic. This would eventually lead to disreagard for management altogether as the Commission chases more and more revenue to support its burgeoning budget.
The hunter who accidentally shoots an illegal four point with brow times in a three up zone and gets whacked for a violation might reflect on the fairness of the law unfavorably knowing the Commission is selling the head of other deer for spurious reasons.
If hunters increased in the Commonwealth, I assure you the Commission would expand. So as hunters decrease in the Commonwealth....should not the Commission decrease it’s budget as well?
Feral swine are not native and should be treated as any other introduced pest. Ignoring the damage to forest, agriculture, infrastructure, and landscaping, the diseases spread to humans by feral swine is enough to make you not want them in your space.
Good info here http://wildpiginfo.msstate.edu/index.html
I wouldn’t be surprised if the success of archery hunters isn’t used to eventually phase out rifle hunting altogether in favor of shotguns and muzzleloaders only. Well, unless you could buy a special permit to hunt with a rifle ....say $200? Hey, the Commission needs the money.