How is that you would have them "count" the deer in the state of PA?

The PGC has PS estimated deer densities just like they did in the past, but they won't release them. If they didn't have those estimates the couldn't calculate the percent change in the herd from one year to the next as reported in their AWRs.

What good are the report cards then? You say deer reduction is for forest regrowth. Now how do these report cards work if the herds keep getting reduced each season. How do report cards work without knowledge of the total deer herds? Report cards are a waiste of time and just a make you feel good as the PGC makes you think they care about deer hunting and numbers in PA.

The herd numbers have not leveled off and continue to plummet each season. This year is going to be a joke for deer harvest numbers.

How've you been Pedro? How's your twin Explorer Jack?

You Sir, obviously don’t have a clue about even the most basic principles of deer management. You are so far out in left field I don’t even know how far back to the basics one would have to go to get you even in the correct universe.

Start here and once you have read these you might be able to come back here and interact on the subjects with at least a basic knowledge of deer management.

http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/lib/pgc/deer/pdf/reporting_rate_variability.pdf


http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=525&q=175185


http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/lib/pgc/deer/pdf/Management__Plan6-03.pdf


http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=460&q=174345


http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=465&Q=175353&PM=1


http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=460&q=174310


R.S. Bodenhorn

But Scorp is correct when he says the PGC claims they don't know how many deer we have. Therefore, he has every reason to question the importance of reporting the deer that are harvested. The PGC is responsible for creating this mess by denying they are using the same populations estimates they have always used to allocate doe tags

No one has ever known how many deer there were in any state at any given time in history and if they did it would be changed within about five minutes anyway.

It isn’t even important to know how many deer you have when the deer and their food supply are telling you if there are the right amount, too many deer or if the food supply and habitat could possibly support more deer. It is nearly as important to know how many there are is it to know when you need to harvest more, fewer or maintain a stable harvest.

The deer give you those answers when you monitor them. It makes much more sense to listen to what the deer and habitat have to say then to listen to what hunters have to say. They listen to the hunters so long we have many areas today with very low deer numbers. Listening to the deer works much better because deer don’t have anything but real facts to present while hunters present lots of opinions with almost no supporting facts.

Wise people will put more faith in listening to the deer and their food supply then the hunters.

R.S. Bodenhorn

But the PGC claims they can calculate the change in population from one year to the next,so they are in fact claiming they have population estimates just like they have in the past,while at the same time they claim they don't know how many deer we have. That is simply impossible.

If the PGC listened to the deer , they would increase the antlerless allocations and reduce the herd even more, since the breeding rates decreased by 5 % and productivity also decreased. The deer have shown that the herd was below the MST carrying capacity when we had 1.6M deer and that is why breeding rates decreased instead of increasing as you predicted. LISTEN To The DEER RSB!!

Yes there are estimated deer numbers, there always have been. But, that estimate isn’t the driving force in the management direction any longer and for good reason.



That is a statewide number but since we don’t manage on a statewide level that number rightfully has no deer management influence in any particular management unit. Each unit is managed based on the facts the deer within that unit provide.



No, that is just your opinion based on your lack of knowledge about the deer/habitat relationship and how each influence the other. You simply don’t understand how nature works and it appears you most likely never will.



Oh, I do!

I’ve been listening to them for decades. That is why I have worked so hard for so long to educate people toward protecting the habitat so it can support more deer in the future, I have seen firsthand, with destroyed habitat and crashed deer populations, just how foolish it is to manage as you advocate.

R.S. Bodenhorn