I agree with WindWalker, that a lot of the LOCALIZED problems regarding deer numbers are utterly attributable to poor management in previous decades. The deer were allowed to browse themselves out of house and home and, as I previously indicated..…… the DEER are smart enough to move to where the food is more prevalent. The direction that the PGC is taking now, however, is proactive. Or am I to believe that not killing does was bad then and killing does now, is bad as well? Those who think that it is easy to control overall deer numbers by merely issuing antlerless tags, have no concept of wildlife management. Yes, more tags issued equals more deer killed. More deer killed, however, does not necessarily lead to FEWER deer the following year. Nature simply does not work that way. The more does that are killed, the more abundant food is for the remaining deer that winter. This, in turn, yields more healthy fawns that are born each spring. It’s common sense.

There is no doubt that by the PGC attempting to manage all areas of the state under the same harvest criteria (coupled with a lack of cooperation from sportsmen regarding the killing of does), we have seen habitat destruction in certain areas of the state. These areas now require much more work to find the deer. However, as the FLIR studies have shown, the deer exist in much more substantial numbers than the nay Sayers on many of these message boards would have you believe. I also hunt in the North Central tier. To be honest, deer hunting there has ALWAYS been an exercise in patience and creative tactics. Depending upon the acorn mast production, deer would often be concentrated in lower, more agriculturally diverse areas (private). Ambushing deer on their way to and from these areas was often the only possible tactic to employ, and even then, with no assurance of success. These challenging hunts occurred BEFORE concurrent buck/does seasons and BEFORE the so-called slaughter.

In regard to the overall license sales numbers declining, I personally feel that blaming a perceived lack of deer for the change is unreasonable. It is obviously much more attributable to a more socio-economic problem. This is one of the main reasons that forward thinking sportsmen are proponents of Sunday hunting. Plenty of people just don’t have the time to hunt as frequently anymore, and very few are willing to give up a Saturday of overtime. This, coupled with other social factors (lack of youth participation, ect.) are the REAL factors for the decrease in license sales. I do not know even ONE PERSON that has not or is not purchasing his hunting license this season due to PGC deer mismanagement or a perceived lack of available game. If anyone would have a legitimate gripe in that area, it would be the pheasant hunters.

I know the message boards are just for the exchange of ideas and the venting of frustrations. I realize that everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, but the overwhelming and inaccurate aspersions cast in these forums, are at the very least, factually unsound.