ORIGINAL: RSB
ORIGINAL: the outsider
RSB wrote:
"Now let’s go ahead and talk about just who dropped out as hunters. One of the places where Pennsylvania has lost hunters came about when it got easier for hunters to get multiple antler less licenses. Once that happened all of the wives and daughters that never hunted or had nay interest in hunting no longer had to buy a license so their husband, dad or brother could get an extra tag or two.
Another place that I have noticed a huge reduction in hunters is road hunters. I don’t see nearly as many of the guys that never hunted anyplace other then from the seat of their vehicle anymore. Maybe it is a combination of factors that caused them drop out of the hunter ranks but some of the things that come to mind are fewer deer standing along the roads, higher gas prices or the fear of being caught shooting at a fake deer as more WCO use facsimiles. "
Where did this information ordata come from?
"I don’t know where you got the idea that the majority of the hunters are unhappy with the Game Commission. There is nothing to establish that as a fact and it is really nothing more then an opinion. "
If you believe this, you are out of touch with the general hunting population.
Also, the number of hunters per square mile is irrelevant when you are comparing % of license sales reduction. The fact is, we are losing hunters at an alarming rate.
The information concerning the decline in road hunters comes from my observations and discussing the topic with the other officers that spend every day out there looking for, checking and talking with hunters.
I would say it is you that is most likely out of touch with the general hunting population. I am very confident that I talk to far more hunters then you do. In fact I would suspect I probably talk to more hunters in just one month then you will talk to in during an entire year. I check hunters ever day, I attend sportsmen meetings routinely, I was set up with one of the stations at the public open house for the hunters to discuss the deer program, I get invited to speak on the subject of deer in many different locations where large groups of hunters and the public attend.
I can assure that the vast majority of the people, including the hunters are supportive of the present deer management plan. They wish they were seeing more deer, but most of them understand why they aren’t and also support the objective of keeping the deer herd in balance with the habitat and food supply.
Just because a few people refuse to accept the management facts the deer themselves provide or because a few hunters refuse to become better educated about deer management or the deer/habitat relationships certainly doesn’t mean I am the one that is out in the dark here.
I know who is lost in the dark and it sure isn’t me.
R.S. Bodenhorn