GREAT HABITAT NO DEER IN PA.
 

i was hunting sgl252 this year..i did not see 1 deer in this GREAT HABITAT..i saw very few squirreals ,no grouse, very few pheasants, saw 1..

i got to talk to locals and all said same thing, it is greatest HABITAT you would ever see but NO DEER or game..

my question is this, DCNR AND PGC says,SPROUL ITS HABITAT IS WHY YOU DONT HAVE DEER IN WMU2G,WAKE UP SPROUL..

well, my question back is, WHY WITH THE BEST HABITAT IN WORLD IN SGL252 you dont see deer or bird and very few squirreals?

oh, maybe they are WAYBACK!!!!

RE: GREAT HABITAT NO DEER IN PA.
 

i did some small game hunting in Towanda this week and didnt kick up one deer. we shot ALOT of rabbits and some grouse, but saw no deer, didnt kick up any at all. very scary.

RE: GREAT HABITAT NO DEER IN PA.
 

same i saw when hunting SGL252 at wiliamsport,pa..

i could not believe the HABITAT in there..great for deer and small game..no deer..locals said the hunters killed as the PGC wanted, shooting fawns..

kobear, i believe we are not good hunters anymore..dcnr and pgc says,THEY ARE WAYBACK..think for minute,they say there all deer,we say there are not..

they even have their cronies say,I SAW 5 BUCK LAST WEEK GUYS,THEY ARE OUT THERE, LOTS OF DEER..

i will tell you what is out there, a lot of FIBBERS!!

RE: GREAT HABITAT NO DEER IN PA.
 

I know the area along rte 144 had a huge fire a few years back.It's thick as can be in there.Don't worry though sproul,they want to produce clearings to bring the elk in and make that area an elk veiwing forest for tourism.

RE: GREAT HABITAT NO DEER IN PA.
 

Actually if you have great habitat, you should also have a bunch of squirrels, grouse, turkeys, birds, and other animals. The fact that you don't indicates that you really don't have as great habitat as you think you do. There is more to habitat than just having a forest. Maybe you should do some study on the subject?

RE: GREAT HABITAT NO DEER IN PA.
 

My thoughts exactly!

RE: GREAT HABITAT NO DEER IN PA.
 

If deer don't have sufficient high quality browse,it's poor deer habitat.Unfortunately,that's the case across much of the northern tier.

RE: GREAT HABITAT NO DEER IN PA.
 

Sorry Baily but greenbriar wasn't found around here in abundance until the herd was reduced.It still isn't that abundant in many areas after a cut.Westill have huge amounts of pole timber with nothing but a blanket of ferns on the forest floor and an understory that you can see through for hundreds of yards.

The PGC does habitat improvements on the gamelands and in fact,our game lands around here have some of the best habitat around.The problem is,the state can't cut more than 1% of it's forest andthey can only control the habitat on the gamelands,which is a small part of the total land mass.

What percent of the forests do you feel should be cut every year?

RE: GREAT HABITAT NO DEER IN PA.
 

I live is northern Clearfield county.I hunt this area,Elk county,parts of 2F and cameron county.Most of this is state forest property and property owned by timber companies,open to the public.I also hunt a great deal on SGL 77 and 93,both in Clearfield county.The habitat is excellent on both of those game lands but that land is a very small piece of the pie.

The game lands are mandated to be managed for a variety of wildlife,not just deer.Some species thrive in mature woods and othersdo better in a mixed habitat.All of this is taken in to consideration.

The deer herd did prosper after the northern tier was raped of it's timber.Unfortunately those prosperous times won't last long because eventually that habitat turns in to pole timber and is useless to deer for decades.We're on a 100 year rotation to keepus from being in that predicament again.I answered your question now answer mine.How much do you think they should cut each year.

RE: GREAT HABITAT NO DEER IN PA.
 

8 PGC employees maintain this SGL252 at williamsport, year round..

are you saying that the PGC does not know how to grow and maintain a SGL252 for game?

RE: GREAT HABITAT NO DEER IN PA.
 

That type of comment is exactly why we have professional foresters and biologists running the show.If we cut 25% of the forests,we'd have nothing but a huge clearcut in 4 years.Within about 10 years,we'd have all of out timber in the pole stage which would support less than 5 dpsm.

RE: GREAT HABITAT NO DEER IN PA.
 

Does anyone believe that timbering practices as we have seen conducted by the PGC would stay the same if/when DCNR takes over?

Do you think that DCNR will only cut .5% of the stated goal of 1.% for several years running as PGC did, if it takes control of Game Land forests?

And finally, because the PGC was neglegent in achiving that stated goal of 1.%....who profitedfrom that failure?

RE: GREAT HABITAT NO DEER IN PA.
 

What do want to know about me?I'm not trying suck up to anyone.If you need to know,I have an Allstate agency.

I do nothing under the cloak of the internet.I'd be more than glad to show you dozens of examples of failed regeneraion caused by an overpopultaion of deer and poor habitat conditions.

RE: GREAT HABITAT NO DEER IN PA.
 

DOUGE,then explain why STATEGAMELANDS 252 has GREAT HABITAT and no deer,no squirreals, very few grouse,very few pheasants..

RE: GREAT HABITAT NO DEER IN PA.
 

DOUGE,i know you dont agree with this,i said it before, take walk in woods, right now, and you will be seeing plants getting sunshine and GROWING,yes douge, growing..

we are having LONGER growing seasons now for last 5 years or so here in pa.do to elnino effect..this is causing the plants to get about 3 months more growing time..plants are bloomimg in march and still are in woods..

its NOT lack of deer that is causing things to grow..

we should only have 2 months of cold weather this winter, thats at least 9 months of growing ..hell, my apples are blooming again ,this is 3rd winter that has happened..

so, hope you understand that LACK OF DEER is not causing forest to grow ,its the LONGER SEASONS..

RE: GREAT HABITAT NO DEER IN PA.
 

I was up there for hunting and never saw a deer, I rode on Sunday in parts of Sproul SF and Beech Creek mountain road and out on 144 for 6 hrs in a Jeep, got out walked around, never saw a deer, Never saw a deer for 4 days, saw lots of rubs in Sproul along trails and gas line roads, but never saw a deer the entire time I was in Pa. DCNR told me to go to Coon Run Rd and all those surrounding roads....I would see deer , no such luck....

RE: GREAT HABITAT NO DEER IN PA.
 

Bailey -

The PGC doesn't not approach the "powers to be" for seasons and bag limits. That is set yearly by the Board of Commissioners. The next Commission meeting is scheduled for January 21-23 here in Harrisburg. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Fines are set in Title 34 and we are currently working, at the request of a Representative, tointroduce a revision to that section of the code.

The PGC doesn't not need any legislation to harvest timber or do any other type of habitat improvement work. Those goals are set by the Executive Director for each region on a year to year basis. Contracts are set over a two year period hence the occasional fluctuations. Some years are higher and others lower.

RE: GREAT HABITAT NO DEER IN PA.
 

my camp was in coon run rd area when we had deer..i grew up in that area..i have friends there in camps..

lets start with BUCK RUBS..do to lack of doe,the bucks that are left are traveling great distances to find a doe in heat..

i have never seen this in my lifetime hunting..i saw buck this year that was at least 3 miles from where i saw him a week ago..that buck rubbed trees for 3 miles..bucks used to stay within 1 mile in that area, not anymore..

the hunters, which i interviewed as most are friends in that area said, sproul, we never saw this before in our life, bucks ,we cant pattern them as they dont stick around in 1 area..

we saw scrapes this year that we felt bucks never came back to check out and saw bucks at night 3 miles away from where we saw them weeks ago...

now for seeing deer in that area..only people that see all these deer are DCNR and pennstate boys/girls..of course, they are better hunters than us,hmmmmmmmmm..

here is what is interesting, if there was so many deer in that area,why dont the DCNR friends i know HUNT THERE??hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm,interesting, isnt it..

you proved that what you hear is not,TRUTH..i am not saying there is not some deer in that area..that area NEVER was great deer area here in clinton county..

look at ground when you walk the pipelines or trails..

this is where you will see deer POO..if no poo,no deer..

i was hunting deer in HYNER RUN AREA..i bet i did not see more than 6 piles of deer poo all season there..i asked other hunters if they saw any, most never saw a pile or only 1 pile..

i guess deer are WAYBACK,thats it, WAYBACK..only a fool would believe that buzzword..

RE: GREAT HABITAT NO DEER IN PA.
 

Sproul,I've never been to SGL 252 so i can't tell you about the deer.I can tell you that I see deer almost every time I hunt on SGL93and SGL77 even though mnay swear there's no deer there either.No I don't see things growing right now so you're theory about a longer growing season holds no water.

Baily,I never said the food and cover corps is doing as much as they could.I've said they do alot with the manpower and resources they have,which is true.They haven't had a raisein over 9 yeras.I wonder if overheads has gone up since then?The PGC never split up doe season.