I agree that people do need to adapt to your "lowered expectations deer managment strategy". You have to because you have no choice. Its been mandated to the hunters of the state by our leaders who feel hunters desires are no longer important. Certainly not as important as conservationists and thier money.
So I agree with you, if you are going to hunt you should get used to seeing less, taking less and having to move to new locations every few years and leaving long traditions behind. Tradition is a bad word now. If you had a camp in a good location and it dried up? Well you just have to take the lowered expectation approach and pay the rent for camp but hunt somewhere else. If its your family farm, "oh well", you should drive hours away to seek out hunting as its not the PGC's job anymore to provide hunting opportunity in the whole state, just parts of it now. And not good hunting, just mediocre, like Jason likes.
Of course some hunters are still taking bucks and see no problem, they see no need to support the concerns of hunters who are not lucky enough to live in Greene County or hunt on Daddy's farm in Bradford. No need to worry as long as you are "getting yours".........but over time more areas will dry up as the herd is downsized as promised. A little here...a little there and it will compress the hunter pool into a smaller area. Then when they get to experience no buck taken for a couple of seasons for ANYONE in thier camp (alpha, beta,omega) they will be singing a different tune!
....Because there were a few counties this 2003 season that saw appreciable dips in buck harvest. We dropped from 203K to 165K trickled down to 142K and we don't know what the PGC is forecasting for this years harvest because they are tight lipped and hiding, and won't give out a estimated herd size or harvest. 135K this year?
Its easy to blow off any concerns near the beginning of our reductions, only a handfull of the 800,000 hunters really experiencee the slight reduction so far. But with large allocations of tags +dmap it will keep creeping towards new areas and new hunters.
In trying put down anyone with a concern over quantity, you generalized that anyone who is disappointed in this current "lowered expectation" deermanagement wants to be spoiled and wants "trout like" conditions. Thats a joke. Nobody would mind if there were a few less deer, but they still took decent bucks every now and then....but that ain't the case
There are areas where expereinced hunters, beginner hunters, and everything in between are not able to take a buck due to our lack of sightings. (again note that no just one or two guys are taking less. Our harvest dropped from 203,000 to 142,000 thats 61,000 REAL people who are going home with a doe as a consolation prize.
You forget that some areas are not blessed with high populations before AR/HR in PA. you probably don't know that because you don't hunt in every county. So we have to listen to the hunters who are experienceing first hand the benefits or PROBLEMS with this smaller herd Lowered expectations mediocre herd. Dr. ALt said as he reduced the herd he would listen to hunters and tweak where neccesary. If Dr. Alt can listen to concerns then why can't hunters listen to the concerns of fellow hunters????
Oh, thats right Dr. Alt is pretty much hiding these days and not saying, reporting, or doing much is he???? Maybe all that talk about making adjustments was just lip service?
Like "more and bigger bucks"?