Harvest WAY down this year

[Dredly]

I took my deer in to get processed yesterday at around 12:30, last Saturday of the rifle season and there were 3 deer there.... 3?!?!

From what the owner was saying they are WAY down on harvest this year... like less then 50% of usual over the last 2 - 3 years and WAY down from before that (when they used to get 100+ a day every day of the rifle season)

Anyone else hear anything about the harvest so far this year being WAY down? May only be in our area

[BIGSHOVEL]

Yes, way down here as well. I hope it stays that way for awhile. These deer need hunted to the brink of extinction to get the doe ratio where it belongs. 1:1 or 2:1 at most. I have hunted all over the US and Canada and everywhere but Pa do you see equal bucks to doe ratio. Hell in Canada where we go if you see a doe it's a big deal. I would rather shoot mid to high 130" class bucks or does before we keep killing 2 1/2 year old bucks. Just my thoughts though. I'm all in for four point restriction on one side for the whole state.

Brad

[Yoder]

Are we talking about crops? Sorry, I hate the word "harvest", way to PC for me.

[Dredly]

an 8 pointer is a trophy out this way. They don't get that big before they get hit by cars. Seeing a 10 pointer is insane and bigger then that is is a deer guaranteed to get poached.

I don't care about rack size, I care about the meat.

The solution is simple - Switch to a "doe first" license, you kill your doe THEN you can shoot a buck. but the PGC will never do that as they make a fortune off doe permits.

[Brown-Bear]

I took my deer in to get processed yesterday at around 12:30, last Saturday of the rifle season and there were 3 deer there.... 3?!?!

From what the owner was saying they are WAY down on harvest this year... like less then 50% of usual over the last 2 - 3 years and WAY down from before that (when they used to get 100+ a day every day of the rifle season)

Anyone else hear anything about the harvest so far this year being WAY down? May only be in our area

Yeah its down. But by your numbers maybe its down because over the past few years 1200+ deer a season have been killed in your area alone. Now for all I know your area has a huge problem with an over population.

But I placed the blame on my fellow hunters. A lot of the guys I talk to have a favorite phrase " If its brown, its down". This is how you kill all the deer in an area. I hate hearing people say that they wil shoot anything they see regardless of size, age, points or milk on its lips. These same guys will holler " Hell yeah I filled my buck tag" and then show you pictures of their "Trophy" 3 pointer, all the while screaming that its the game commisions fault that they have not seen any "Big bucks" for years. News flash clown, if you kill all the 1-2 1/2 yr old bucks before they have a chance to breed a couple of times that is what will happen. You end up with a way over balanced buck to doe ratio with the bucks never really reaching maturity and maybe breeding only once or twice before ending up on some dudes wall.

And just so we ae clear I have hunted for years, in many states and have an 8pt rack on my wall, so do most of my friends who hunt. But most of my friends have passed on the button bucks, smaller 4 pts and smaller does. If you exercise a little sefl discipline in the field, you will see better harvest numbers in the near future.


DISCLAIMER; For me, when typing "YOU" is a generic term, nt directed at Dredly. Just wanted to add that since I posted as a quote.

[BIGSHOVEL]

an 8 pointer is a trophy out this way. They don't get that big before they get hit by cars. Seeing a 10 pointer is insane and bigger then that is is a deer guaranteed to get poached.

I don't care about rack size, I care about the meat.

The solution is simple - Switch to a "doe first" license, you kill your doe THEN you can shoot a buck. but the PGC will never do that as they make a fortune off doe permits.

Agreed, all about money. If you don't shoot small 8's and 10's and everyone plays by the rules you will indeed see more big bucks because the will all be old enough to get big.

Brad

[ar15jules]

I think a lot of hunters have taken it upon themselves not to shoot doe.
Just my take on it.
Jules

[Brown-Bear]

Are we talking about crops? Sorry, I hate the word "harvest", way to PC for me.

What would you call it then.

[Dredly]

Agreed, all about money. If you don't shoot small 8's and 10's and everyone plays by the rules you will indeed see more big bucks because the will all be old enough to get big.

Brad

I'm 100% meat hunter, If its before the end of October I'll shoot any legal deer I see, aiming for the small ones as we do a cook out with a deer on a spit. After October its the biggest doe I can stick or ANY legal buck.

The buck to doe ratio in my area is approx (my guesstimate) 1:3 to 1:5 and we are definately over populated, especially in the developments.

[Dredly]

I think a lot of hunters have taken it upon themselves not to shoot doe.
Just my take on it.
Jules

I think what we are seeing is an interesting shift, because rifle season is Buck and Doe at the same time the number of people passing on Doe to try and shoot that "monster buck" is increasing very quickly

Shoot a doe and your day is pretty much over and you may miss that trophy that are supposedly everywhere now that the AR have been put into place