I cannot speak for other couties but the harvest number's for York county just do not add up.
If you look at the harvest #'s over the last 6 years you will see that we have harvested 34,191 Antlerless deer and and 18,811 Antlered deer, now I know about 20% give or take a % or 2 of the Antlerless harvest is actually Male deer so the harvest numbers are more like
29,780 FEMALE deer and 29,676 MALE deer which is almost identical. And when you consider the fact that deer are born about 51% Male and 49% Female hunters here in York co. should be able to see this summer that York co. has a buck to doe ratio very close to a 1:1 ratio and even with the fact that Male deer have a higher natural mortality rate than Female deer and for every 20 deer we are able to identify their sex, about 9 of those 20 deer should be Male especially since the PGC. is claiming that 50% of our buck harvest is made up of 2.5 year old deer and older. I would also like to point out that the majority of deer harvested for crop damage by farmers are Female. One thing is for sure, there is No way that the PGC. will be able to claim that York co. had a similar harvest during the 2005-06 season. Also since the PGC. claims that the herd has actually increased in York since the inception of HR. and AR. and the fact that we had 2 full years of AR. under our belts for the start of the 2004 season and just as many if not more bucks in the 1.5 year old age class, a reduced harvest last year due to bad weather and a poor mast crop,LOL! our buck harvest should have dramaticly increased this year and York co. should have as good if not better deer hunting in 2005 than any place in the entire country. Pike
Jeff,
On the one farm I hunt outside of York New Salem, I saw something like a total of 50-60 deer while on stand over maybe 10 hunts there, and of those 50-60 deer (I'm sure some were repeats) I saw exactly 1 legal buck, and a half racked forkhorn.........lots of button bucks and young and older class does, but 1 legal buck. He was a really good one, but I couldn't believe the lack of bucks I saw in there with the position of my stand, the bottleneck and the constant doe travel.
On the other farm I hunt in Dover, I saw zero legal bucks.
I did not take a buck this year in PA, and only decided to shoot one mature doe, which was reported.
By the way, I also hunted a lease in Scott and Greene counties in Illinois, and saw MORE bucks than does, and these areas get hunted hard in their shotgun seasons.
I think PA bums me out more and more every year, especially after hunting some other states like Nebraska and Illinois..........Just too many hunters, not enough quality land etc etc.....if you weren't born into some true family honey hole of a spot welcome to hunting with a dozen people you don't know.
I agree with you Matt. I hunted with a few friends in york this past year. We mostly hunt Accomac but also have a few other areas. Between us all not one of us saw a legal buck. I also live and hunt right across the river from york in Lancaster and had the same experience. Now I can't say they aren't there because I see a bunch of legal bucks spotting near my house and just driving around but come hunting season they stay in the thickest most posted land in the area. It's just tough to get a buck with any size unless you are the one with the posted land. (at least in Lancaster county)
__________________ Last edited by CalHunter; 08-10-2009 at 01:21 PM. Reason: Inappropriate--called a mbr "douchebag"
I saw several "legal" buck this season in York county, all healthy 1.5yr olds some basket 8pnts and a few 6pnters. The only legal mature buck spotted was a 3.5 yr old 8pnt which was killed the following night by my best friend. More 2.5+yr olds- I don't think so...
Its amazing how the PGC. can put out such bogus numbers and get away with it, what is worse I just learned that this will be the last year that the PGC. releases harvest numbers by county it will only be by WMU in the future.
Matt, is the farm your hunting in York New Salem owner's last name start with an "S"
I also hunt in Dover on my cousin's farm and the hunting has gone down hill and the amount of trespassers has increased, I guess their getting desperate to find a decent place to hunt.
My buck sightings as well as the amount of buck sign seen while scouting has been alot less with each passing season.
Like you in IL. I have seen more bucks than doe's hunting in OH. over the last 3 years, At some point im going to stop hunting PA. and just hunt OH. and MD. Pike
Matt, is the farm your hunting in York New Salem owner's last name start with an "S"
Yep.......you know where I mean, and HOW'D ya know?. It's a shame too cause the place has all the potential in the world where I am hunting, but the game land pressure from either side spilling into where it shouldn't be really hurts.
This past season is the first time I hunted there, I have written permission which I leave attached to my stands, and I still see different people daily, with treestands on their backs, or toting shotguns, problem is that he doesn't POST the land and people do what they please..........I didn't even go near it for rifle season. A co-worker lives up on the ridge overlooking that valley and he said it was a war zone forst day. He could see 13 orange coats from his perch up there.
Just not enough room for everyone. I had some nice evenings, like I said saw some deer each time but I thought where I was was going to be money.
The bottom line is PA has too many hunters for the shrinking amount of huntable land there is.There's room to spread out in the big woods because fewer people are driving there.With the lack of deer and the rising gas prices hunters in the southern counties are going to stay home and hunt.
Therefore leases will continue to be a hot item in PA.But even some I talk to said leases are also getting overharvested.
And to top it off,a timber company I know of in the NC has decided to get on the lease game.Hmmmm,they push the PGC to reduce the herd because of their trees then when the hunting gets bad on public land they get into leasing.There's money to be made from all this and it's only going to get more expensive.
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IF A FLY DIDN'T HAVE WINGS,WOULD IT STILL BE CALLED A FLY?
Matt, probably just like yourself since I was about 16 if there was a good area in York co. I knew about it, just like I knew that Bearklr was hunting one of three properties near the Accomac. But like you and Germain stated it no longer pays off to spend hour after hour trying to locate good area's to hunt because one there is alot fewer area's I would even consider hunting these days and second every patch of woods these days is polluted with hunter's whether they have permission to be there or not.
Germain, I guess the timber co.'s and farmer's etc. found that the income they generate from leasing their land for $5.00 - $8.00 and acre per year more than makes up for the damage that deer are doing to their land each year. If it didnt, there is no way they would lease their land and allow the group leasing each parcel to controll the deer #'s on their parcel.
Kind of make's you realize that the DCNR is full of crap doesnt it. Pike
Sure does jeff.One only has to look at states like Texas to see what a money maker leasing can be.
I do believe the PGC does promote to keep land open to hunting and I feel they are sincere in that thinking.
But in that aspect deer management has back fired on them.
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IF A FLY DIDN'T HAVE WINGS,WOULD IT STILL BE CALLED A FLY?
York County PA. Harvest #s just dont add up??
