I really don't think the deer in PA would grow any bigger racks if they were anywhere else - particularly in the Ohio River watershed... Western Pennsylvania supports some of the most diverse and nutrient-rich whitetail habitat on the planet. I've got rolls and rolls of film of 2.5 year old bucks thatare absolutely gorgeous by anyone's standards - allbefore they've ever even celebrated their third birthdays...

The genetics of PA whitetails trace their lineage back to the early 1900's, when the deer population was abyssmally low, and whitetails were reintroduced in the form of "stocked" Canadian and midwestern whitetails. So, the genes of the deer we're shooting are probably a 99.999% match to those shot in Saskatchewan and/or Pike County. Most people wouldn't say that those deer come from "bad" bloodlines...

Our problem isn't genetics at all. It's hunting pressure. Our deer aren't growing big racks because we're killing them before they have a chance to.

PA hunters are a victim of our own circumstance - too many people. I know what we put up with on a daily basis, and I hear some of you midwestern guys say "we need to get more people into hunting" - trust me - be careful what you wish for...