I am ready, I will spend $125 to hunt in Ohio next year and say screw continuing to fund this current commission. But really, How many others are willing to do the same? Will it even matter, the current lack of sales doesn't seem to concern them enough to take more pro-active measures. Their answer... raise the cost of licensesand punish the remaining hunters they have.

As far as hunters quitting b/c of having to use a single shot weapon. ????? My opinion is this and I said it before.... if you need more than one shot to impact a vital area you should be on the range not in the woods or you shouldn't take the shot.


That is a very niave position with little relation to reality. How many archery deer are lost because they only have one shot? How many deer are missed on the first shot and killed on the second shot?

How many deer have you missed during archery and have them stand within rangefor a second shot?
With the rifle I have Never missed the first shot. And if you do miss it isn't the weapons fault. Preparation prior to going into the woods to make sure your weapon is in working order is the most basic of responsibilities we as hunters owe to the game we pursue.
Furthermore how many of these archery shot deer are lost not b/c of only one shot but rather b/c the person gives up too soon and neglects their responsibility to make every effort possible to recover their kill? Some are unrecoverable but it is a small percentage and definitely no higher than deer lost in rifle season.

The PGC would never get the harvests they need to control the herd if hunters were limited to in lines.

This idea of having to meet quotas would be legit if the percentages were reasonable. As it is right now the deer population from what I and alot of others on here is seeing is below the PaGC's estimates.

I have seen aerialheat signature photos. In an area encompassing 5 square miles in what is considered healthy deer habitat only21 heat sources were detected. Of those 3 were bears that had been stocked by the PAGC this past year. How many were actually deer?

I think mostof us (and I thought you included) considered the PAGC's methods of "controlling" the herd as being ineffective when the results are apparent in most of the state. If you meant "control" as being overkill then I would say they are very efficient.


[quoteConsider this.. In states like Ohio, "rifle" season is far shorter than ours but the archery season lasts straight through to February. Even with not having a high powered rifle season there is still more hunting opportunity than here.


More hunting opportunities for only one class of hunter, the class that is the least effective at controlling the herd.

Exactly what this state needs right now.Not (for only one class of hunter) but less deer allocations being filled.

How many deer have you missed during archery and have them stand within range for a second shot?
With the rifle I have Never missed the first shot. And if you do miss it isn't the weapons fault. Preparation prior to going into the woods to make sure your weapon is in working order is the most basic of responsibilities we as hunters owe to the game we pursue.

This idea of having to meet quotas would be legit if the percentages were reasonable. As it is right now the deer population from what I and alot of others on here is seeing is below the PaGC's estimates.

Exactly what this state needs right now. Not (for only one class of hunter) but less deer allocations being filled

ORIGINAL: FiveMiler

I like traveling around to different areas of the state each year to hunt. I try to pick out a new state forest or state gameland each year, and spend the third week of October hunting. This year, I decided to see what all the hoopla was all about in WMU 2G. I secured a 2G doe tag, along with a 3A doe tag. I stayed at a motel in Colten Point, just outside of Wellsboro. I hunted the Tioga State Forest in several different places, along with SGL 64 west of the town of Galeton.

I like to walk. I put on alot of miles in search of deer sign from last Saturday to yesterday. I found a little in the Tioga State Forest. Not much. During the 4 days that I hunted in various areas of the state forest, I never jumped a deer. Never heard a deer bolting or blowing. Never seen a hair.

SGL 64 was a little different. I found a bit of deer sign, and actually jumped a deer on the last day that I hunted it.

I found very few scrapes, 3 buck rubs and not a single bed in either location the entire time I was there. I can see why people are upset. The deer numbers, at least in the areas I hunted, are ridiculous.

Now I'm not sour because I feel the PGC owes me a deer. I'm not sour because I didn't kill a deer. I'm not sour at all. But I am above wasting my time in an area that should hold more deer than it does.

One night, while walking out of SGL 64 in the dark after spending the entire day hiking around looking for deer sign, I contemplated pulling my license and doe tags out of my license holder and ripping them up and sending them to Roxanne Palone to use as toilet tissue. But I'm above that. I think I will just hang on to them, frame them, and hang them above my desk as a reminder of what happens when special interest group infiltrate a wildlife management agency.

Next year, instead of picking out a different area of the state, I'll just pick another state. What these people have done is unforgivable. They'll not get another penny from me.

*Sidenote edit: I did see more then several deer in the no hunting zone of Colton Point SP. What a beautiful area.

ORIGINAL: 4evrhtn

I have had the same experience as you. This year has been the worst yet. Weird thing is there are so few deer in the area I live in and hunt yet the PAGC's attempted harvest last year fell far below what they wanted. The corn and soybean fields haven't been touched other than very light browsing.Having beenunable to have this set number of deer killed during the prior year we should havean abundance ofdeer this year. It's just not the case.

In an area as unpopulated as where I live and with the amount of wooded areas the hunting should be decent. I know of 3 doe having been shot and now the buck count is up to 4 since the first day.

ORIGINAL: bluebird2

You may be the perfect hunter who always gets his deer to stand braodside in a clear shooting lane, but the PGC can't manage the herd or limit weapons based on the perfect hunters. Many of us prefer to actually pursue our deer rather than sit in a tree stand and ambush them. Under those conditions we don't have cleared shooting lanes and the deer are unlikely to present the perfect shot with no obstructions.

I hunt every methodwith the exception of lining 20 guys up to push deertowards standersso they can fill tagsfor the group. I take shots based on what i am comfortable with. I know my limitations and I do not shoot beyond them. If that makes me perfect in your eyes I am flattered, Thank You!
If the shot is more than likely to wound the deer I will not take it. So you are right I don't shoot through obstructions because I know the likelihood of killing that deer efficiently is poor. If every hunter took risky shots like you confess doing the game commission probably is accomplishing their kill ratio, just most those deer are left to run off and die never to be claimed or reported.

Ex. Dir. Roe should thank you personally for helping to reduce the herd if this is how you hunt.

If every hunter took risky shots like you confess doing the game commission probably is accomplishing their kill ratio, just most those deer are left to run off and die never to be claimed or repo

Since we are clearing things up... I never said anything about a perfect shot. There have been times that the deer had been quartering toward me, moving, etc.