Wow, did this thread come back from the dead!

NJB and J Pike,

Neither of you has presented proof that AR as it' s being used in PA won' t work. Nor can I call it a complete success either. As I see it the only facts that can be claimed here are that Dr Alt said this is a work in progress that will work eventually because it will be reshaped as we go. AR is only part of the picture. Killing off more does till we' re in better balance is only part of the picture. New deer management units are only part of the picture. An unprecedented fawn mortality study and an unprecedented buck survival/ migration study are only part of the picture. Even if you had proof that AR' s don' t work (and you havent produced it yet) You cant possibly say that it won' t work here because it hasnt been tried HERE IN PA with all the other strategies concurrently being implemented HERE IN PA.

What I can say is a fact is that Dr Alt has started a comprehensive program based on good science that . Good science, by it' s nature, includes a good dose of trail and error if the results are not alredy known.

His stated goals include

A herd balanced properly with the habitat.
A herd balanced properly in terms of age distribution.
A herd balanced properly in terms of buck/ doe ratio.
A herd that provides better opportunities for all hunters (that may not necessarily benefit you or I as individuals)
Scientifically managing for the resource first to help prevent animal rights wacko court attacks on our sport.

He has stated many times that this may take awhile.

Record doe harvest.... Alt said we needed it and most hunters agreed...we got it.

Save some bucks to grow a year older. Again, most hunters agreed and it would appear that the numbers have grown on that side. Maybe you' re right on this Pike, we saved a bunch but maybe we didn' t save enough, but how would you fix that? Betcha old GA has some ideas.

New DMU' s... a vast majority agreed we needed em... we got em.... are they perfect? Probably not, but, we dont know cause we aint tried em yet!


PS J Pike
I personally would like an antler spread AR better myself but then we' ll get a big whine about someone having to pass a buck with incredible mass and lots of long tines with a tall narrow rack. The point is that no restriction is perfect, but that doesn' t mean that none is better.