Ok, PA deer hunters, what say you to this?

http://www.tnonline.com/online/columns/connection.html

I'd like to know who the other financial contributors are!

I say....consider the source. Mr. Slinsky is a controversial guy. That is as nice as I can put it.

This guy is the biggest windbag, anti AR, Anti PGC guy that walks the face of the earth. Everything to him is a PGC concpiracy. I saw him speak at an Anti AR rally in Bradford county 2 years ago. What a horses Patoot!!!

Interesting that the local paper used to carry his columns. After the meeting they dont carry it anymore.

He got abused pretty bad at the meeting.

with all due respect to all parties involved.... it sounds like a bunch of political mumbo jumbo that seems to not come to a point. i am no scholar but i am not uneducated at the same time, truthfully i couldn't make heads or tails of this story. until i read that he was host of an outdoorsman radio show, i thought for sure that he was the head advocate of PETA.

He is not an advocate of PETA, he is an advocate for our deer herd. Go hunt state forests or sgl's and see what it's like. You are like lemmings following the PGC and Dr. Alt. You don't want to know who finances your deer population studies?

Mike, I know exactly who pays for the state of Pennsylvania`s deer population surveys.

I will agree with you that in some of our state game lands and national forests deer numbers are down.

There are several possible explainations for this.
1. Less than perfect herd management.
2. Severe weather conditions that are beyond human control.
3. An overall horrible mentality of the average deer hunter in this state.
4. Cyclic conditions regarding forest maturity, which leads to natural deer food source fluctuations.
5. It is a monumental task to manage a deer herd with all of the above scenarios, PLUS 1.1 million rifle hunters. I am in no way trying to negitively portray gun hunting, merely pointing out that our state is unique with the sheer number of hunters.

And the biggest reason for low deer densitys in certain parts of the state....people like Slinsky and the Federated Sportsmen who truly want to end all bowhunting in this state. AT ANY COST!

You wouldn`t happen to be a member, would you?

Just because people don`t see your side of this issue doesn`t make them lemmings. The exact same thing could be said to you for agreeing with Slinsky. But I ain`t saying it. I am not even thinking it. I choose to believe that your thoughts are your own.


Now, who pays for the deer studys?

first off i can see the ANF from the front window of my house and see state gamelands from the back...... i either hunt or walk sgls or the anf just about everyday. the deer herd is up, the turkey numbers are up, the squirrel numbers are up.........and the coyote numbers are up. but i am definately not a big PGC fan. before you start pointing fingers, calling names, and making assumtions, you should know your facts and know the geographical locations of the people that you're trying to BS. personally i think they should get rid of all of these mental giants who are ruining some of pennsylvania's greatest natural resources.

I would agree with Big county on this one Mike. On the game lands of Bradford county there are plenty of game/deer/bear.

Just cause your area is down in deer population does not mean that the entire state is devoid of deer. Come up to NE pa and look at all the deer lying dead on the highway since deer season, you would think its the rut all over again. There are ALot of deer up here. The mast crops are down this year. Are the deer moved to a new area that has food....Probably. Deer go where the food is just like you or me.

I do not know the area you are from but I can only guess the game lands are mature old growth forests where there is little for the deer to eat. If they were timbered and the forest opened up you would begin to see a deer population explosion within a couple of years. Perhaps years of to many deer have really hurt your forests.

Call the PGC and find out what is in their plans for timbering. REmember they run their timber sales as a business as they should. If they started to timber all the game lands at once the market would be overburdened with timber and $/board ft would drop thru the roof. They want to get as much for their assets as I do (being a land owner with timberable acreage).

Some Notes on Lack of deer this year.

1. 1st day of deer season was extremely windy... Deer hold tight in wind

2. Lack of hunting pressure. After the second day hardly anyone hunts anymore. When I was a kid looking forward to hunting, my father and the cabin they used to hunt out of took the entire week off. Along with alot of other camps. Now they are all gone by noon on Wednesday. People just dont hunt like they used to. Face it ours is a dying sport due to alot of reasons. Age, Work and the almighty $, lack of kids being interested in the sport, and alot of changes in the overall attitudes of hunters and people in general. If we dont get something right away, Ah the huntin sucks there are no deer in the woods anymore, instead of working hard to achieve a goal that is not related to $

3. Related to above.. There simply are not the hunters there used to be.

4. When I was in my teens we used to see a TON of deer. IT was not uncommon to put out between 40 and 80 or more deer out of the woods we hunted.
However, If we saw a buck it was a tiny spike. The Buck to doe ratio was unbelievably wacked!! Now we might see a dozen deer on an average drive but the bucks we are getting are FANTASTIC. I personally would like to see alot fewer deer if I have chance to see alot more nicer buck in the mix of deer i do see.

5. If you want to see deer...ARCHERY HUNT... Especially during the rut. I saw 18 buck the last week of archery season 12 of which were in my book shooters. I had the best time ever had while in the woods in my 29 years of hunting. I would ex[ect that as the buck to doe ratios get closer (i hope) that the rut hunting will only get better.

I hunted up near you and I shot 2 deer so I believe I did well myself.