I would not send in a card if I did not in the past. I believe that the PGC would increase doe allocations if more people sent in their report cards. Think about it, they would use that as a justification of an increase in kills so we must have a population increase, therefore we better increase the doe tags and make more money on the license sales.

I don't like thinking this way, but I certainly do not want to do anything to increase doe allocations in my unit. I hunt in 4c where it used to be perfect hunting. See 2-10 year per day (12 hours) during archery. This year I saw 1 deer in over 50 hours of archery hunting. Nice 8 pointer that I killed, but what is left for next year.

I think it is a total joke that they say the numbers went down becuase the allocations went down. The numbers went down because no one is seeing any deer.

A CARD MAILED BACK SHOWS AN INCREASE IN THE HERD AND THEREFORE AN INCREASE IN NEXT YEARS TAGS!!!!!

I totally disagree! A card not mailed back makes the Harvest numbers anESTIMATE and not an actual number! SEND IN YOUR REPORT CARDS, your only making adding error to the equation!

What surrounding states have reported on their 2005/2006 seasons.


2005 WV kill: 35% lower than 2004; 11% fewer buck, 37% fewer doe, but several counties were closed to doe hunting.

2005 NY kill: 14% lower than 2004; 35% fewer "doe" tags sold.

2005 OH kill: 3% lower than 2004; they think their herd has decreased by about 7%.

I have to agree w/ whitetail deer.

Wow! another rocket scientist heard from. With thinking like this, it is no wonder that so many don't send in harvest report cards. My pappy used to say, "Beauty is only skin deep, but dumb runs clean to the bone."

Sending in a report card if you've killed a deer is an ethical hunter's obligation. Trying to skew the system only hurts everyone. If it were manditory for everyone to report regardless if one killed a deer or not we could put to rest the accusations that the PGC is fudging the numbers.

In reading the report I do take issue with these particular statements:

1. This year, less than 40 percent of hunters who harvested a deer sent in their harvest report card.

How much less than 40 percent? Surely the agency must know?

2. Although the current reporting rates reduce the precision of harvest estimates, they do not affect the validity of the results or procedures.

Does anyone really believe this statement?

3. Harvest figures for the Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP), which enables landowners to target hunter pressure where needed, are not available at this time, and were not included in these harvest results.

The agency (PGC) removed this requirement from DMAP requirements, why? Don't they want accurate figures, or as accurate as is possible?

Statements such as theseplace the PGC under greater scrutiny. The truth is, their failings are many, much like their "Magical, Mystical" Deer Harvest Formula.

i love how they say the weather was a big factor.. gotta love it..

Only if you entrust our future and our heritage in the hands of a few that may not have our best interests in mind.

Where I hunt it will never be the same.

Dumb,hmmmm - I have a BS in Business Administration and I got my Masters degree in Environmental Business Studies.

I love the outdoors and the great sport of hunting in PA.

Just goes to show that one can be educated but not smart, IMO. How old are you?

Yes, I guess it is all wrong to completely change the data that the PGC regularly receives so that when they extrapolate the numbers it comes out that we have an upward spike in deer population in my hunting area. Then they can use that data to make sure they continue to reduce the numbers in my WMU.

I better quick send my card in so that my 1 kill looks like 3 hunters have had success and now they can bump up our allocation next year. That is much smarter. They use the theory that if more are getting killed the population must be rising and not falling as they want it to.

Again, do I want to trust my love of PA and the outdoors in the hands of those that don't really know what is going on in my neck of the woods. Extrapolating the report cards is foolish and shows nothing.

This year I took a walk after the only good snowfall we had along the appalachian trail. I walked 4 miles in and out through absolute lush prime hunting land. In the past runs crossed at many of the good cover areas. This year I saw what looked like a mother and 2 fawn tracks in those 4 miles. The fields in the area did not have a single track. That was around 48 hours after the storm.

hmmmmm