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Old 01-01-2005 | 09:43 AM
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UncleNorby
Nontypical Buck
 
Joined: Mar 2004
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Default RE: Who is to BLAME ????

I don't hunt PA, so I have no idea what the deer densities are there, or in your area. What I have read about some areas is that there are too many deer for the habitat. I have heard for many years about guys going to PA bowhunting and seeing as many as 20-30 deer a day. That is not a good situation for the habitat or the deer. The woods are overbrowsed, and there is little to no regeneration due to browsing. The carrying capacity of the land during the winter is what you want to come close to. You can have more than that in fall, so hunters can take a certain percentage out, but still leave plenty to have fawns in the spring. I have NEVER heard of a case where regulated doe hunting caused a detrimental reduction in the herd. It definitely does reduce the herd though. If you want to see many deer per day, you will never like a program that reduces the herd, plain and simple.

I have heard the Game agency wants to lower densities to 10-12 deer per square mile. That is a reasonable density of deer for the habitat and hunters. Even so it will take a good number of years for the woods to recover.

I don't know how many deer you see a day, but as you say, if you have a tag you CAN fill it, perhaps there are too many deer.

Where I am in IN, there are at least 20 deer/mile. I can shoot 4, using antlerless tags for 3. Access to land is the problem here, so I think the F&G tries to compensate by letting the few guys that can get access shoot as many as they can use. Even so, there are too many deer. If we had a "bad" winter we'd lose a lot and the overall health of the survivors would be bad.
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