Rob
Right now I'm on the fence , leaning towards being against it<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>
It just seems to me , that Gary Alt knew darn well how to get his plan across as being the "answer". By targeting the trophy hunters (for lack of a better word) , or the QDM hunters (nothing wrong with QDM) , knowing full well that the above groups of people would be salivating at the thought of trophy bucks.
I , as a hunter , love having a huge deer herd. Are their more does than bucks? Yes! Would a closer buck to doe ratio make a better herd? Yes! But , as I said before , I dont believe for one second that his agenda is aimed at a quality herd. I truly believe his agenda is 100% aimed at reducing the herd dramatically by targeting does. He knows full well that by having a antler restriction , many many many more does will be harvested this year.
As far as the QDM topic , like willow creek , or our buffalo county , I cant argue with that. It has proven results , but in much smaller areas than the state of Pa or Wi. These areas dont go after the doe slaughter to reduce the herds. They keep a balanced harvest and they weed out the inferior bucks.
In Wi , at least they (DNR) have been honest about their intentions. They have told us all along that they need to reduce the size of our deer herd. Alot of hunters would say , why? we love having over a million deer , but when you get into the politics side of it , like the $$$$ that it costs our states by having an over population of deer , then you'll understand how their agenda and ours (hunters) are miles apart.
Lets say for example , (because I dont know Pa harvest or population numbers) that you have a deer herd of 1.6 million. Lets say your normal season harvest numbers are 600,000 deer with a 60% doe harvest each year. Lets say this year , out of 600,000 deer harvested , 90% are does. Lets say you have the harshest winter in many years and you have a 10% - 20% winter kill. You've already lost a great portion of the breeders. Now next year , I'm betting the buck harvest will be a record harvest. But , this is where you'll find out what Mr. Alts true intentions were , the next year , since mostly bucks were shot the year previous , it will be earn a buck. There will still be quality bucks around , but now everyone will have to shoot a doe or two before shooting a buck. In a few years it will be interesting to see if the size of Pa's deer herd is drastically smaller than it has been in the last 20 years or so.
"Nocked,cocked & ready to rock"