Good catch, it is for one side.

By John McGonigle
Sunday News Outdoors Editor


"None of these (proposals) will be for a lifetime. We'll try them, evaluate them and then adjust them as needed. We're looking for a socially acceptable way of fixing the deer herd. I could just ignore the deer problem, but I'd rather offer solutions and work on solving the problem."-------------------------Gary Alt




The Pennsylvania Game Commission will be presented with an antler-restriction proposal at next week's meeting.

"The proposal we will be making will be for a minimum of 3 points on one side for most of the state and 4 points on one side for 11 1/2 western counties near the Ohio border," Gary Alt, the Pennsylvania Game Commission's deer-management leader, said Friday morning.

The area with a 3-point minimum includes the southeast region (including Lancaster County) that was previously slated for a 4-point restriction.

Rumors abound on the antler-restriction proposals, including an e-mail I received from someone heavily involved with a quality deer-management group. The e-mail stated that antler-restriction proposals were being dropped because of negative feedback from some hunters.

Yes, there is some negative feedback, but no, the proposal for antler restrictions is not being dropped at this time. Alt admitted that negative pressure could possibly change the proposals.

The game commission will meet Jan. 13-15 at the Harrisburg headquarters at 2001 Elmerton Av. Public comment will be accepted Sunday beginning at 1 p.m. and Monday from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m.

Alt will present his proposals Monday.

Without rehashing the entire history and strategy of the deer program, the deer-management team thinks Pennsylvania has too many deer for its habitat and that the buck-doe ratio is badly unbalanced in favor of does.

The team feels more does need to be harvested than have been and that the overall deer population must be reduced to suit the habitat/food supply.

Alt explained that last fall's Pennsylvania deer harvest was better than most states.

"Most state's deer harvests were down from 5 to 33 percent," he said. "Deer harvests were down because of the heat. Deer have a warm, heavy coat by deer season, as well as good fat stores to go into winter. Warm temperatures caused deer to be inactive, making it tougher for hunters to find them during daylight hours."

Alt said Altoona's average temperature was 6 to 31 degrees higher than historical average temperatures during deer season.

Preliminary figures show that Pennsylvania had a good doe harvest, not big enough to reduce the herd but big enough to stabilize it, Alt said.

Thirty-four teams checked deer during the fall deer season and preliminary figures showed that 45 percent of the deer taken on opening day were does. Alt estimates that the teams checked about 50,000 deer during the season.

Alt said two things were involved with deer management in Pennsylvania: biology and social factors. He admitted that social factors sometimes get weighted more heavily than biology.

"I think people who are very vocal against antler restrictions haven't heard our rational," Alt said. "I really believe they'd support us if they did."

Alt pointed out something that it seems many people do not realize.

"None of these (deer-management proposals) will be for a lifetime," he said. "We'll try them, evaluate them and then adjust them as needed.

"We're looking for a socially acceptable way of fixing the deer herd. I could just ignore the deer problem, but I'd rather offer solutions and work on solving the problem.

"I try to offer solutions that are best for the deer resource, not what's good for me or other people."