The antlerless harvest is way down but so is the allocation.There's plenty of deer on the public lands in 2G.You just have to hunt where they should be.You know,where they have a reason to be.

There are plenty of deer for a single hunter, but there aren't plenty of deer for 52,000 hunters or they wouldn't have decreased the allocation and a harvest rate of less than 3 DPSM wouldn't keep the herd stable.

How about all the hunting camps you keep telling us about being empty and guys not making the trip to hunt up there anymore. I guess less hunters have nothing to do with harvest numbers being down. I know the deer herd has been reduced but now that it has stabilized and is growing (PGC data that I posted last week) do you think the harvest numbers are going to mirror that with less hunters?

Very good point that Blebird will never accept.In 2006,the buck harvest increased by 40% in 2G with less hunters.Yes,the herd in 2G is increasing.

This is the data you posted previously and when I ask you to explain how the herd increased by 42% in just one year both you and Doug were speechless.

The most recent data released by the PGC shows that the four year trend of the herd in 2G is stable. Therefore, the PGC is saying that the current harvest of less than 3 DPSM equals the net recruitment of the herd and if they increased the number of hunters by increasing the doe tags ,the herd would be reduced even more because the herd can not sustain a higher harvest.

My point is you only post data when it shows doom and gloom. But data that may show there are some positives out there you discredit it immediately. And you also take a thing such as the buck recently scored, which has nothing to do with anything, and use it for more doom and gloom.

There are still plenty of deer out there for those who hunt. Some have chosen not to hunt the traditional deer woods any more. othere leave afetr a few hours. Our camp still kills deer in te ANF but the number of huntesr has been declining steadily for 15+ years.

I'll tell you who is "hunting" but not killing deer inthe ANFarea. The guys who show up on the Saturday before the opener and sit on the same stump they sat on 20 years ago till maybe lunchtime on Monday and then go home bitching and whining about nodeer. They simply can't accept that the old days of sitting in one spot while dozens of deer bounce around the woods from hunter to hunter like pinballs are gone. There just arent that many hunters out in the big woods. The deer are still there but you have to goout and hunt them on their terms. The Punkin army mob deer drive days are thing of the past.

YAAYYYY!!!

The funny thing is that the very hunters you attempt to make fun of, are killing all the deer that can be harvested on a sustainable basis. Do you really want more hunters to hunt harder and reduce the herd even more? Or would you prefer that the unhappy hunters quit so there are more deer for the remaining alpha hunters?

First off, I wasn't trying to make fun of you personally and I apologize if my post hit a nerve. I trulyfeel sorry for you if your half day hunt isn't what it used to be.

That being said, I welcome all hunters who care about the whole resource in my neck of the woods. The only hunters I hope to see go are those who just won't accept that deer, or any other game for that matter, have to be manged in balance with the land that supports them. Those guys cant go away soon enough (or mad enough) to suit me!

I have an idea. I've got a set of golf clubs I havent used in years. If you and would Sproul like, I'll toss a coin and I'll trade the winner for his 08 Pa hunting license

But our deer herd is not being managed in balance with the land that supports them. It is being managed solely on the bases of forested habitat,which has a much lower carrying capacity than the carrying capacity of all the habitat the deer use to survive. That is why breeding rates and productivity didn't increase as the herd was reduced. The herd was already at the MSY carrying capacity when the HR plan was implemented.