ORIGINAL: R.S.B.
Here let me show you the antlerless harvests for a few counties over the past twenty years or so and then you tell us how they have over harvested the does in your home county of Clinton or in my area of Elk County.
All of the data is in harvests per square mile so it can be compared in an equal manner.
County………….…….82-86…….……87-91………..….92-96………..….97-01
Allegheny……………..1.5……………..2.5â €¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦6.8……………...8.1
Elk…………………….3.3……………..5. 3………………4.0……………...3.2
Cameron………………3.2……………..5.4†¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦2.0……………...1.5
Clinton………………...2.4……………..4. 0………………1.8……………...1.9
Go ahead and explain to use how they have been able to harvest three or four times as many does per square mile in and around the city street of Pittsburgh for over ten years, without over harvesting the does, while harvesting less then two does per squaremile
R.S. Bodenhorn
May I say that is because more land was purchased and opened for hunters to increase the harvest report. Land that was closed to hunters in the past has became open for them. Special regulation areas as to decline the numbers of deer human casualties. If you look thru the new areas that have been opened for hunters you will see these counties above have had more land open to harvest more deer to increase your data. They open land where hunting was not permited before as in the suburbans. Your goanna have lots of deer being harvested and increasing your data. Now if you did not include these new lands open to hunting, What would your data chart show? It's like opening a 3 or 4 mile area that's never been hunted and taking50 to 100deer from that new area and then adding it to your data above. And yes that will increase the numbers of deer per SQ. miles for that county. The data is not as accurate as it might seem.
Just a thought to ponder on.