What you have posted is nothing more then a handful of opinions from a VERY small and select group of people. Plus as has already been pointed out even your selection of articles are not all expressing being disgruntled with hunting in Pennsylvania.

Here is an actual survey of over 900 randomly selected Pennsylvania hunters and what they had to say about there level of satisfaction with hunting and wildlife management in Pennsylvania. This survey was done in 2005.

“ What “You” Think about Hunting PA


YOU MAY HAVE BEEN one of more than 900 hunters to receive a phone call last May as part of a survey conducted for the Game Commission, by Responsive Management, to help us learn about your participation in, motivation for and satisfaction with, hunting here.


Hunters were selected randomly from a list of those who purchased 2000-01 licenses. The survey took 20 minutes and consisted of more than 100 questions such as: What is the main reason you hunt? How likely are you to go hunting? How satisfied are you with your hunting experience? What would encourage you to hunt more? and, How do you rate the Game Commission?


Here's what "you" had to say:



How Much Do You Hunt?

The survey separated respondents into three categories: active hunters, inactive hunters and ex-hunters. Active hunters (88%) were those who had hunted in at least one of the past two seasons (2002-03 or 2003-04) and intend to hunt in the future. Inactive hunters (6%) did not hunt in either of the previous two seasons but intended to hunt in the future, and ex-hunters (less than 3%) did not expect to hunt in this state again.


Of the three percent who do not intend to hunt in the future, the ex-hunters, the main reasons are health and age related (35%). Other factors causing you to give up hunting are: lack of time (23%), the places you used to hunt are gone or developed (8%) and lack of game (8%).


Are You Satisfied?


For the most part, you feel positive about your hunting experiences. Seventy-nine percent of you were very or somewhat satisfied with your Pennsylvania hunting over the past two years. Only 10 percent were dissatisfied.


How's the PGC Doing?

Most of you shared positive opinions of the Commission's ability to manage wildlife and hunting seasons. Seventy-one percent gave good or excellent ratings for providing hunting opportunities, and 62 percent believe the agency is doing a good or excellent job managing and conserving wildlife. Additionally, 69 percent of you gave law enforcement good or excellent performance ratings.

You can find the full report here and associated links:


http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=482&q=163607&pp=12&n=1


It seems that you are really in a minority group of about 10% that are not satisfied and that in reality the majority of Pennsylvania hunters are not unsatisfied and actually believe the Game Commission is doing a good job.

R.S. Bodenhorn