PA deer harvest down 17%

[Martin Cougar]

Here is a link to a PGC news release that says our harvest is down by about 17%. The PGC blames weather and poor mast crop.

What do you guys think?

http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/v...?Q=160660&A=11

[mauser06]

i believe it.....i dont think it was a god rifle season....up north in the mountains where many hunters go the first week was horrible weather wise.....second day about everyone stayed in....freezing cold windy and snow made it tough....deer werent moving much at all....and if deer were killed alot were does..guys just getting meat and getting out of the cold.....i hunted clear till the last day of flintlock season and seen a ton of deer....an actuall herd of 12 walked by me in range...no antlers....alot of bucks dropped already....i know there was a buck or 2...bodys alot bigger then the other deer....mature does were visible as well as fawns....2 stood out that were bigger....i got 2 does this year so i was waiting for antlers after the first saturday in rifle season.....tough hunting......i believe the stats would be low.....everyones going to say oh they are fixed so we kill more next year blah blah blah.......not to many people got deer this year....noone wanted to hunt and if they did most wouldnt hunt how they had to to get the deer....we did drives from the first weekend on and did great.....about 20 deer killed by our groupd of 15 or so.....14 were bucks...thats the way to hunt these conditions.....we passed 100s of hunters sitting on their stands in their trees swaying back and forth from the wind..and the frezzing cold and snow made the deer lay up long.....most hunters just said oh well theres no deer left from last year........i am on who will never believe it....i seen 100s of deer this year

[bearklr]

I guess I can see how the weather would have affected the harvest. I know there is a long season but the majority of the hunters only have the first 2 or three days to hunt and if they aren't going to stick out the wind and the snow then they aren't going to get too many deer. Of course you will always have those people who will find faults in everything the pgc says. If PA became one of the best whitetail states in the nation people would still b^%$#. I for one am going to stick with Alt. I think the antler restrictions are working and that there are a ton of does in the state compared to bucks. I don't know about anyone else but I get tired of seeing 30 deer the first day with 29 of them being does and one with 2" spikes.

[PAhunter86]

I don't think the first two days of the season could have been worse

[EagleLake]

I know the year was a bad one but are the deer out there in PA?

[BTBowhunter]

The deer are here! I saw over 50 on the last day of late archery/muzzleloader alone! First two days of gun were HORRIBLE. Unfortunately a lot of hunters only hunt that day or two and I think that had a lot to do with the low kill. I hunted all the seasons in three different management units and had a very good year both in seeing deer and harvesting deer.

[MikeE51848]

Depends on where you hunt. Many of those who are reporting great success are located in western/southwest/south central part of state. Big difference for most part her in east/northeast/northcentral.

[wimp]

I think a little bit of the low harvest is due to the weather, and a little is due to the lack of deer in certain places. Fortunately my hunting areas have good deer numbers, but there are places I go and hunters I trust know what they are talking about who say deer numbers are down in some areas.

[SchuylkillOutdoorsman]

The weather was bad, but Ive been out all archery too and didnt see much.

[MikeE51848]

quote]but there are places I go and hunters I trust know what they are talking about who say deer numbers are down in some areas. [/quote]

Thank you, as there are many on this board who do not believe those reports.