niehenke

I starting hunting in SW PA in the early 80s and the hunting was not all that great. My father spoke of the great times in the late 60s. He would see herds of 40-80 andshoot 2-3 boxes of shells at pheasants and rabbits. My best 2 years were when they just started the deer management program, but after a few years, hunters decided to shoot doe on the first few days instead of holding out til the end of the now 2 week season. The season before the dmp was only 3 days. This past season wasa joke. I almost got shot crossing a feild. Several doe were coming over the ridge in a feild while hunters were flinging bullets from over 300 yards from my left and right. I could not see the deer nor the hunters. I tried moving forward thinking that the shots were behind me until I saw the deer and the dirt flying. Sure I would agree that there are some larger bucks being taken yet the #s are down and I think that it is not as safe. Hunter safety was taught in my school and now I think that only sportsman associations have them. Not sure if this is the only reason. Might be all that orange that I have been seen and not so much brown. I now live in MI and have been hunting in both states for the past 10 years and it just depends on the private land. Forget about the public land. You might get lucky but the odds are not in your favor. Overall, I think that MI and PA have some work to do. I'd love to see doe season tags be limited for a few years and continue the antle restrictions in both states. Heck, I have a better idea. Let's stop gun hunting in all states and have a 4 month archery license and a min. 140 class.