THE COLLAPSE OF Pa DEER HERD & A FAMILY TRADITION

[Yellowfin]

Here's a novel idea: stop the myopic emphasis on deer as the only game to hunt. Dove, turkey, coyote, rabbit, pheasant, etc. all can keep people plenty busy and are perfectly good use of the land and opportunity to take the kids out. Why the one dimensional focus?

[Gun Bowanna]

Text I just received from my neighbor here in York who hunts in Maryland as well as PA.

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Maryland with a reg lic. i can get one buck and 10 doe each season.
Archery, muzzloader and shotgun. And for 25.00 you can buy 3 extra buck tags only one for each season.
So total 6 buck and 30 doe for the year sept 15 to jan 31 and there is 7 sundays to hunt on private land only !!!!!!
Its a better deal in maryland !!!!

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So, aren't they the same deer? How come with so many opurtunities to tag does (and Bucks). They still are able to hunt so many every year. There are deer in the woods in PA as well. Just they're not where you hunt any more, they move to where the food and cover is.

[Dredly]

Here's a novel idea: stop the myopic emphasis on deer as the only game to hunt. Dove, turkey, coyote, rabbit, pheasant, etc. all can keep people plenty busy and are perfectly good use of the land and opportunity to take the kids out. Why the one dimensional focus?

Turkey - limited season in fall which overlaps with deer season

Coyote - doesn't put meat in the freezer

Rabbit - good luck, rabbit population is almost nonexistant in the woods, also overlaps hunting season

Pheasants - only when they are dropped in the woods by the PGC, very few if any in the wild

[Yellowfin]

Got feral hogs then?

[streaker69]

Got feral hogs then?

There's a lot of feral cats around here, but we're not allowed to shoot them and give them to the local chinese place.

[Dredly]

Got feral hogs then?

not on this side of the state, they are out west but I don't know if they are allowed to be hunted everywhere

[Yellowfin]

ALLOWED to be hunted? Wow. The PGC must reeeeally be screwed up then, because most state fish and game agencies want them shot 24/7/365 and are BEGGING people to hunt them more.

[Dredly]

ALLOWED to be hunted? Wow. The PGC must reeeeally be screwed up then, because most state fish and game agencies want them shot 24/7/365 and are BEGGING people to hunt them more.

When you start shooting them they move on and spread / scatter... think they are trying to consolidate the pack and shoot them off at one time?

no idea

and didn't NY just get hit with a massive license increase and another one planned for next year?

you really wanna start comparing PA to NY? haha

[aveojohn]

not on this side of the state, they are out west but I don't know if they are allowed to be hunted everywhere

Not sure where you're talkin about, but I live in south western Pa, no feral hogs here.

[Yoder]

[QUOTE=C27433;1422962]The PGC hunting regulations are not meant to cater only to those hunting PUBLIC land. The deer populations throughout the state are much higher than the nonsense touted in the report referenced in the OP's post. Deer are not static, they cover vast distances in a matter of days and can move from public to private lands in no time. They don't know the difference.

I find it hard to believe that the deer are overpopulated on private land and near extinct on public land. Even if this were true, the PGC has to take into account the deer population throughout the management zone, not just the public portion, and issue tags accordingly. If the complainers on this thread had their way, the private lands would be overrun with deer just so that those hunting public land could "see" a few more deer during the season.

If you're seeing less deer on public land, it's the result of a high hunter population driving them off of the land. Sorry, them's the breaks, as we say. If you want to the believe the documentation referenced in the OP's posts, the hunter population is decreasing too, so maybe it'll turn around in a few years? Whatever the case, this destruction of the deer population is utter nonsense.

The report stating that some areas have seen a decrease of the deer population by up to 75% is completely groundless. Then, it has the nerve to state collusion between the PGC, Sierra Club, and Audubon society. This is the biggest problem with traditional, gun loving, conservatives (of which I am one). We are perfectly in line to wield a large amount of influence in society, and then some whackos go spouting off conspiracy theories making us all look like angry lunatics "clinging to guns and religion."

If you believe these bogus claims, then I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. I'll even sweeten the deal by telling you who really shot JFK.

Here's a hint if you're sick of hunting on public land:
Go drive out into the country, scout some fields before the season to find out where the deer are, then knock on the land owner's door, politely ask him if you may hunt on his land, and slip him a $50. It's how us city folk (of which I am one too) have been gaining access to private land for generations.

Rant over.[/QUOTE

Have you ever hunted on State Game lands? If not then how do you have any idea what you are talking about? My family has hunted them for over 30 yrs and there are WAY less deer than ever. That is a fact not a guess.

I lived in Virginia for a few years and they DO treat private and public land differently. It is only common sense that public land gets way more pressure and more deer are killed than private land. Virginia gave extra tags and you were allowed to shoot more doe on private land. Private land has farms, public land has shit.

If you don't believe there are less deer why are the deer kill numbers down from +500,000 in 2001 before these idiots destroyed PA hunting to now where it was 308,000. There is more opportunity to shoot deer, more tags but the kill is down 61%.

The number of hunters in 2001 was 879,000. The number of hunters last year was 964,000. So more hunters, more tags, longer seasons and a 61% drop in the amount of deer killed but the herd size is the same? These are real numbers not someone assuming the number of hunters is decreasing.

I like the antler restrictions and increased opportunity for kids but they have to stop killing all the does, at least for a few years.