Many of us are not surprised with the results. The PGC/Alt would have us believe that 2 windy days, in an entire deer season, is the culprit in a low deer harvest? Hey if you believe that, well I've got this bridge in Brooklyn I can sell you, cheap! Good luck in your fight but I'm sure Dr Alt will pop up in VT, maybe as a consultant.

I think alt's goal was to get bigger trophy bucks in the state, and the only way of doing that is to let the smaller bucks (spikes, buttons, etc.) mature. Yeah, the deeer are gonna be smarter from season to season, spikes and amller bucks will learn from experience.
The majority of PA deer are killed within the first day-couple days of rifle because of all the weekend warriors, and if since the weather was not optimum on those days the guys who don't see that much of the outdoors might have shortened their days, went out late, etc. leading to a lower harvest.
Was this season rough on PA hunters? yes, i didn't see nearly the number of deer i usually do for the amount of time i hunted in all season archery/rifle/muzzleloader, and that seems to be the general agreement among local hunters, but I can also attest to the fact that I have NEVER seen so many wall hanger bucks taken in one season in my entire life, and my father who has hunted for many many more years than me agrees with me, and in fact there are still big ones out there floating around (had an 8-9 point at 15 yards in late muzzleoader)
The fact is in my opinion that alt is a great biologist who has done all he can to cater to all the hunters/whiners that are looking for monster bucks here in our home state and in doing so he may have alienated some other groups. These guys that are hunting for horns are the ones that either voiced themselves the best or (i am thinking this is the more viable reason) had the most money. Also remember the game commission is still a business, although it is a state run organization for the preservation game species and land, it still has to make money and revenue, and out of state hunters who might choose PA for a big buck in the future might drop some nice coin in our state instead of paying more to go to ohio or some midwest state.
Either way, i think Dr. Alt is doing the best he can to cater the PA sportsman, and from a scientific/biologic standpoint he is doing a danged good job at creating what he set out/was set out to do.

I for one commend Dr. Alt for a job well done, but we still have a long way to go in PA. But I believe PA has taken the right steps to improve the herd. Yeah they will do some things wrong, but i'm sure they will learn from their mistakes. As for the deer herd, the deer are out there, trust me. Many times during the season I saw 30+ deer in a day, and two of those days were the last week of flintlock season. Because of more people posting their property and forcing hunters to us Game Lands and State Forests when they hunted private property before, is causing an increase in pressure on the game lands. And what to deer do when there is alot of hunting pressure, they go to an area that has little or no hunting pressure, such as posted property where nobody hunts. Deer will move many miles when forced to. We as hunters can gain access to some of that posted property, many times it is just a case of going to the landowner and asking. I for one hunt private posted property and public property, and in the case of the private property I hunt, I help the landowner in the summer with his hay, help keep his property clean and help keep unwanted slobs off of his property. All it takes sometimes is a simple jesture of sharing your harvest or helping out with some simple chores around their property to gain access to these areas. And when you gain access to these areas you will see where the deer are at in PA.

I for one can see how a windy first 2 days can result in a lower deer harvest. First off people can't keep their a$$e$ in one place for more then 1 hour on a normal day in the woods. Heck I have 20 times more people walk up to me by 9:00 then I do deer. Now throw in 45 mph wind and those guys are back in bed by 8:00. Now take into consideration that most guys only have the first 2 days off to hunt (which are the biggest deer kill days in the state) and there you have your decline in deer kill. I have seen alot more large bucks harvested this year then I have in the past. I have also seen enough doe's to fill my tags twice over, to me that's more than enough. I guess people get a little ticked off when they can't step 3 feet away from their truck and shoot a spike on the first day. Oh well. I for one will put my time in the woods and reap the benefits of letting the smaller deer go.