I have been checked once while hunting and a couple times while fishing. And honestly must say that in my experiences the officers were professional for the most part.
I can understand both sides of the coin. I understand that a GC officer has a much more difficult job than most people realize. And I understand that the officer must maintain control of any situation for his and the saftey of others.
However the officers that are out in the field checking hunters are pretty much the only point of contact between the GC and the public. They are the ones that create an image and relationship between the GC and the hunter good or bad.
I fully believe that if the officer makes the effort to start this relationship with respect, and continues to show the hunter respect. He will in turn be given respect. As mensioned above if a hunters 1st contact with an officer makes him feel as though he was disrespected he will remember it. 1st Impressions are by far the most important impressions, and good or bad will affect how that hunter views the GC from then on.
I am all for the GC checking hunters and doing thier job. But, they need to keep in mind that they are the ones controlling the hunting publics opinion of them. And they should always keep in mind a little respect can go a long way.

Another sore point is lis. prices
I have recently move out of state and now it costs me about $160.00 to hunt PA.
I understand that the GC need to create revenue to account for added costs. But, I am concerned that with the number of hunters already declining. Continually raising lis. fees will just make more and more hunters say its just too much. And in turn it may acually lower the total revenue.
Its disheartening to pay more and more to hunt and have the amount of game I see continue to fall. Pheasant hunting for example: I can remember only about 10-12 years ago my father, brother, and myself could drive just a short distance and hunt most any area with decent cover and find a few birds though out the season. But over the lats few years this has all but stopped. Now if we want to pheasant hunt we have to go to the state game lands and deal with a crowd of people doing the same thing as us. And within a day or two of the GC's stacking there are very very few birds left.
I am in full agreeance with the new antler restrictions. But I think it needs some adjustment. For this to really work Even junior and senior hunters should not shoot these smaller bucks. And I also beleive that the deer population is greatly declining in many areas. I think the does are being over shot and combining this with a couple hard winters joined with little mast crop. The deer population has been reduced too far.
Last year I ran into an older fellow while deer hunting. He said that he has been hunting that area for 44 years and this was the 1st year he was not able to shoot a buck the first day. And actually he said he never saw a single deer all day. I myself am seeing far fewer deer in the woods. 5 years ago it was nothing for me to see 20-30 deer and 4-8 guys in the woods the first day. Last year I saw 5 deer and 1 guy.
I think the Doe season should be changed to only last the 1st week of the regular season and the number of available tags sgould be reduced.
But this is all just my opinion

Or leave it as is, and increase the cost of the Doe tags, which probably do the same thing. Wonder why the various groups supporting the license increases didn't lobby fora Doetag increase?

Actually I meant "active exclosures" in the above, but lets try this again; any comments DougE or RSB ?

What part of the state are you from?Looking the exclosures on your own is sometimes eye opening but it's also important to know the history behind it.

South Central part, 4B/4A WMU's.

You know - there are always a few bad apples in the bunch - that incs F&G agents state or federal.We have our share of F&W Hot Dog agents. They have got alot better thru the yrs with a few complaints here and there.

If you think you've been unjustly harrased,pick up the phone and diplomatically use the chain of command.

I wouldn't have there freekin job for love nor money.They ALL in every state put up with some real jerks,not to mention hunters/poachers who would literally shoot em in the back!

Give em a break

Yano,I'm not aware of any habitat tours in that part of the state although I know that they do them in the southwest corner.In my opinion,this is one area where the PGC should put in some extra effort.There should be habitat tours in every part of the state if there isn't already.Once you go to a couple of them,your outlook starts to change.Just seeing how much effort some of these guys dedicate makes you realize that they really are in this for the benefit of the deer.I've met and come in contact with a bunch of guys from the PGC,DCNR and PSU and the US forest service.Everyone of these guys are dedicated to this cause.It's impotant to realize that you may not have the same issues that are present in the north central part of the state.Our habitat is poor because we've had decades of overbrowsing.The expansion of the herd in the southern part of the state is relatively new.I don't doubt that your habitat is much better but you don't want it to get out of hand like it has in the northcentral part of the state.That's what they're trying to prevent.

AJ,good post.

Habitat Tours would be fine, but like I said before, I'd behappy with just a by county/WMU listing of the existing "exclosures" that I could then veiw when my schedule suited. Besides, all of them (state-wide) could be listed on-line, along with a brief history and directions to them.

RSB you need to play the lotery since you must have the greatest luck in the world. Always being on the right channal to overhear rule volations by hunters.. Wow that must be some incredible odds of doing this or you carry a few dozen small radios with you? Also you state you check there firearms and ammos to see if they match a dead deer hidden somewhere they might of been shot wrongly or just lost wounded and lost but I find it funny how you come off sounding like you can look at a wound of a deer and tell the make, model,andCal. of the weapon used...lol Wow you are a super cop becuase other law enforcers must count on Labs to know if a gun shot came from a spicific weapon.. keep the EXCUSES coming they keep getting funner everytime I read them.

Trytan