RE: situation in Pa..
I dont think you guys understand.. These mountainous areas are getting down to 1960s levels! That is not neccesary. In 5 days hunting.. I saw one doe that was not being chased and that was the first day of archery. The amount of pressure that is being put on these few deer is shocking.. The deer sign this fall was the least I have seen anywhere since the late 60s in MD when there were few deer there. This mountain ground has less than 7 per square mile! Do not compare it with other areas of the state with small tracts of pubic land and mostly private.
When 1 of 50 hunters harvest a legal buck is that sucessful management? It is doing just what I thought it would 3 years ago, weeding out the half hearted hunters. Which is fine with me. This state just has too many hunters. I'm sure that when a kid sees only a glimpse of a running deer once a week, he will soon quit.. But for those who get the big boy they will be hooked for life. I just cant see too many of these guys killing 3 yr olds or older,with the pressure that's on those bucks, we know how smart they get.
I think the PGC, needs to devise a plan to put less pressure on large public tracts and more on private lands. I think lessons could be learned from ohio and kentucky. States that have stable herds and many more mature bucks than PA. Another thing that would help is cracking down on hunters filling others tags within a group that is common here. Also button bucks are the dumbest animals in the woods and they being wiped out by frustrated hunters.