Not everyone is grumbling. There will be people at the Jan meeting who will be real proponents of MORE herd reductions. Last Jan meeting several grouse hunting groups gave testimony that more is needed until the PGC reaches its goal of 12dpsm (and pa on the pgc websites most recent annual report shows we are at 25dpsm ave).
The PaNWTF testified the PGC should stay the course on herd reductions as did the United Bowhunters of PA and PFSC. Many DCNR employees also testified as the merits of more herd reductions and there were several timber company owners there urging even more stringent reductions for pa. And of course Audubon and Peter Pinchots herd reductions advocates were there at the microphone too.
Sooooooo.... if you do attend, you better take along a couple buds. You will be up against quite a few sportsmans groups and nonhunters groups who love herd reductions which have only just begin in pa. Up till 2004 the PGC says "the herd has only been stabilized and is at a record high of 1.6 million". You may not agree with that, as most pa hunters know that what they experienced in the woods is not an all time high. And our declining harvests for 3 years shows their eyes are pretty well adjusted.
Pa leaders want the herd reduced much more than what you see today. If you did not like this year, you're really not going to like next. Recruitment of fawns will be down as a result of the smaller herd, and it will take less hunters next year to harvest enough deer to reduce the OW herd again for 2006(its smaller, thus less needed to hit the goal).
You are supposed to love seeing less deer, because flowers and trillium and neotropical birds are going to rebound and prosper. Sure buck harvests in pa have dropped from 203,000 pre-Alt to 165,000 then dooooown to 142,000 last year and a dismal 120somethingK this year but hey, a couple of guys took home deer that weighed 4 more pounds due to herd reductions!! So that should more than make up for 80,000 more hunters going home without bucks...... Right?
Herd reductions for Pa.... its the wave of the future. Less for everyone.
