germain

By now most of you hunting in places like the NC realize the deer numbers are low.Very low.Some say habitat,others say doe tags,yet some say predators.Or all three.
Bottom line is I doubt the deer numbers are going up anytime soon if at all.How are you going to handle this situation?Move?Sell your cabins?Hunt the sw?Hunt Ohio?
Or just keep on trucking and hunt the way things are.
We've been discussing leases in Maryland but I hate to go that route.There's a very remote area near camp that holds deer with some nice bucks but my ass aint going back there.Been there done that.My sons probably will.
By the way manyspurs,after talking to guys hunting in Potter it seems the turkey populations are really down.Is that true?

Pahick

Things arent going to change for us. Been in the Cross Fork area all our lives. Some relatives bought summer homes in Raystown, another bought some farms above Rt 6. We're all still keepin our camps. Deer arent the only things keepin us there. It truly is God's country. And we love it!

ManySpurs

Very poor hatch last spring. Didn't seen many flocks this fall at all. What flocks I did see consisted of bunches of old hens, and small groups of longbeards. I seen one big flock above Blackwell near the Dynamite Shack that had 32 birds in it, including birds of the year, and that's the only flock I seen that consisted of young birds.

As for deer hunting in this area for me, I don't feel right about killing a deer in these parts so I guess if I want to hunt Pa I'm just gonna have to bite the bullet and spend the gas money to run back and forth to the farm country north of 49 if we decide to purchase a Pa licenses. That's a very iffy situation right now. I also have a private farm that I can hunt in Northampton County that has a good number of deer, so that's a possibility. Just something that doesn't feel right about leaving Tioga/Potter to go hunt deer downstate though.

I also have the option of hunting New York, but since my buddy died up there I'm not to certain if I'll be ready for that. Then there's the Buckeye State. I have a farm I can hunt in Ashtabula, and I just might move my hunting endeavors there full time. In fact, we were just talking to a realtor about putting the for sale sign up after the holidays.

But you are right Germain. It ain't gonna get any better anytime soon in these parts. Like someone said, the Perfect Storm has hit the bigwoods, and it will take many moons for this herd to replentish itself if at all. I don't see anything good happening until we at least get a set of BOCs with gonads enough to bring predator numbers(primarily bears) down significantly. We had a decent birthing of fawns this year but by the end of August they were non-existent.

Saxman1819

The MD deer numbers didn't seem that bad this year. It was a poor hatch last year so if the numbers are down then that's why. With all the bad weather this late in the year it may give the deer a better chance with not so many hunters out. We'll see when the final kill numbers come in.

4evrhtn

I will be hunting Ohio more. I have started waterfowl hunting and do more upland hunting with my shorthair because the deer hunting sucks in central pa. I have been a die hard deer hunter my whole life and still love archery more than anything else but I think the PAGC got it's last dime out of me for an archery tag. I wouldn't buy a license at all if not for having my dog.

Bow-4-It

I'm moving up to God's country. In the process of buying a house in Tioga county...2 miles from Hammond Reservoir. Should be there by the end of January.

bawanajim

I still own land in Tidioute, our families camp. The meth heads burnt the camp down .

I now hunt my own land in Crawford county, its not as bad as the big woods but its getting there ,year by year.

The talk of guys just quiting bothers me but I don't know how things will change for the better.

New blood,and new education.

sconnyhunter

You hunters in the NE are not alone. Here in WI, we have a DNR that is controlled by the Governor, appoints the director, and we have been issued doe tags at a pace that the herd cannot keep up with.
For myself, I will always buy a license. But more importantly, may not ever use it again, at least for the near future. If we as hunters and fishermen don't buy a license we are shorting ourselves in the long run.

If we don't buy licenses, the DNR files a claim against their insurance to make up the difference and we wind up paying for that as well.

So please, buy the license, even if you never use it again.

BTBowhunter

I'm not quite in the NC like a lot of you guys but much of the ANF areas are very similar. Personally, I just plowed a bunch of money into camp and am using more than I have in a long time. We do less deer hunting there than we did 15-20 years ago but that situation has evolved more because of the better opportunities near home that didn't used to exist. There's still something about PA's northwoods that draws me back over and over. It's very likely that camp will become home once the younguns have all moved on

Cornelius08

"I now hunt my own land in Crawford county, its not as bad as the big woods but its getting there ,year by year."

I know what you mean Jim. Same deal down here. 55000 tags is taking its toll. For not even being an sra, thats a joke. We are far far below cc, and numbers are half what they used to be, and thats if you believe the data. Id bed less, as most arent even seeing close to half what we used to. Hunting can be fine if you have completely off limts property to hunt. But the tags have taken there toll and they arent being responsibly dropped as they shouldve been years ago when the goal supposedly became stabilization. Every since, its been a slow steady drain. Much of Western Pa is currently living on its reputation from what ive read posted on a couple posts. The western part overall used to have tons of deer. Not so now. Hunter dissatisfaction is extemely high. Compared to other areas of the state there are more pockets with deer especially in completely off limits areas and urban areas like parts of unit 2B, but thats more or less because more of those areas exist in this part of the state. Units 2C have taken far more pounding then shouldve been the case, 2A is in a steady downhill spiral, and Jim says his area up in crawford is declining. So much for the great west. 2B has high deer density in pockets, gives good odds of killing a good buck, but good luck with the access. Adjustments are needed across the board.

"The talk of guys just quiting bothers me but I don't know how things will change for the better.

New blood,and new education."

I agree. New blood in the game commission is exactly what we need, coupled with education on the need for addressing hunter concerns to some extent in deer management issues.