ORIGINAL: PABowhntr
Will you be pleased when the buck harvest drops to 2 buck PSM or 80K buck /year? That will be the harvest rate if we reach the goal of 13 DPSM.
Realistically, I do not think this could ever happen in my neck of the woods because the lack of hunting access on private land. It would be sad if it did. I guess I would take up squirrel hunting...
Well, don't think it can't happen because it did happen just across the river from you. In my area of NJ, we have had AR and liberal doe harvests in place for about 5 years. We now harvest at or less than 2 bucks per square mile, and very few big bucks in those area's. In fact, the deer numbers are very low, yet the State hasn't changed the limit: it's still unlimited doe. Some people think that NJ has some huge deer overpopulation problem, and that may be true in some areas, but it's not true everywhere. Last year, in just seven days in Ohio, I saw only 2 or 3 fewer bucks than I did in 4 months of hunting in NJ. Those squirrels were looking mighty good.
By contrats, DMZ's adjacent to these that have shorter season lenghts, and no AR's still produce many big bucks in NJ, and have been producing some very big bucks recently. Take those stats for what they are worth, but don't think it can't happen. After hunting under such regs for several years now, I am not so enthusiastic about them any longer. Many professionals in the field have admitted that AR's like those enacted in Pa are unproven, and in fact recent studies prove they are damaging to the herd in the long run. It seems like Gary Alt may be about 5 years or so behind the curve on antler restrictions.
P.S. a demonstration of your accuracy with a bow, such as plinking a starling out of a tree at 10 yards, (which should be do-able, at ten yards any reasonable bow should shoot a starling; 2 inch-sized target)., usually persuades the landowner that you can in fact humanely and quite permanetly remove part of his deer problem.
How did that starling taste??