Originally Posted by
longbowman2
I haven't read any of the previous posts so I'm answering what I think the original poster was talking about. I hunt mostly private owned property (mine) that is open to the public. The first day I saw 5 doe and 1 illegal buck. (I'm in a 4 point area). The first Saturday I had 3 doe come through at 7:20 and I took the largest one. The last Saturday was the best with 11 Deg. weather and a dusting of snow. I took a beautiful 18" 9pt. at 7:05 A.M. that was with 5 other deer. If I had any complaint concerning anything the PGC has done it is the 4 pt. restriction in selective areas instead of making a straight 3 pt. requirement state wide. Other than that I just find that I need to hunt harder and smarter to have deer around me. During archery I had 10 different buck in to my ground blinds and only one was legal with 3 seperate 6 points I had to just watch.
Sounds like you have had a good season! Congrats on the fine buck. Your only statement that concerns me is the following:
Other than that I just find that I need to hunt harder and smarter to have deer around me.
Of course you do. We all do. They reduced the herd, and we had to respond by hunting harder, smarter, etc. No complaints from me in that department, until you reach a certain point. Ever heard the story of the frog that was put in a pot of lukewarm water, then the temperature slowly turned up...until it was boiling, and our old friend, the frog, was SOL. Toss the same frog into a pot of already boiling water, and he leaps back out...a little scalded, but glad to be alive. This is what we've come to. Each successive year finds most of us hunting harder and harder and harder than the previous year....and seeing less and less. We are becoming accustomed to having to work much harder every year to be rewarded with fewer deer sightings. It begs the question of when enough will be enough. Will it finally be enough when I scout all summer and into fall, hunt hard, each opportunity I have to hunt....and find not one deer? Then will it finally be enough? Don't get me wrong... I believe that effort should go into your hunting, and definitely factor into your success...but the real unanswered question is just how much? The answer is going to be different for each one of us...and one of our biggest problems right now, on this board and elsewhere..is other folks trying to be the judge and jury for how hard someone hunted (or didn't)...and whether that effort was, or should have been, sufficient to merit success, or atleast acceptable (in the eyes of that hunter) deer sightings relative to that effort. I personally find it unacceptable that my buddy's gang of 19 guys drove a mountain off in Huntingdon co, ths year..that had recent timbering activity, abundant mast, fresh snow cover....and NO deer sign. They hunted hard. Sweated. Bled from the briars and saplings.....I think they worked hard enough to warrant some deer sightings, don't you think? The coined response from the PGC is "hunt harder." While we continue to reduce the herd depsite opposition from the hunters each day. Do you think next year will be any easier? How much harder should they have to hunt next year?