We have a sport shop in Westfield called Ackleys that holds a big buck contest every year. I just came from there, and they have a whopping 47 entries so far. Last year they had 76 for the season. In 2000 I entered my buck at 1pm on the first day, and I was number #69 for the day. By the end of the season they had 179 entries. In 2002, they had 189. Things are bad. Very bad.

Yesterday was opening day for doe in 2G. I opted not to hunt, but drove 2G state forest roads in the Tioga State Forest all day. I put on 118 miles. I ran into one gang of 10 late in the morning that was driving. They were on their 3rd push and hadn't seen a deer yet. I later ran into the same bunch and at 4pm they still hadn't bumped any deer. Other than those guys, I seen 2 other vehicles all day. Camps that usually have hunters for the first Saturday are empty. It's eerie.

Hopefully with this lack of pressure, our herd will rebound. Something has to give. The PGC and its chronies better wake up real soon.