HuntingBry

I posted this on another thread so I'll just paste it here:

Our camp got the standard two bucks. I saw 3 doe early Monday and took a nap in my stand around 10:30. My eyes snapped open a little before 11:00 and 30 seconds later I heard a shot from my dad's area. I looked up and saw a buck moving between me and him about 120 yards away. He needed to clear some trees before I could get a shot, but never made it because my dad dropped him. He was a good 8 with an 18 inch spread and my dad's best buck so I'm very happy for him. He'll be going up on the wall. Another guy in our camp missed a big 9 point that another hunter got up the hill from me. I may have had a shot, but I was looking the wrong direction. Another guy in our camp got a smaller 8 early Tuesday morning. We didn't see as many deer this year as we normally do, but they started timbering our hillside last week and the farm field on top was cut in September. There are definitely bigger bucks around and we are starting to reap the rewards of Dr. Alt's plan.

That was Somerset County BTW. Tuesday I heard more shots than on Monday.

1.6 million deer in PA. You should be able to find some deer. I'm not cracking on anyone's abilities, but the deer are out there we just need to go find them.

WVBowhunter10

There were four of us hunting at our property the first two days and between all of us we saw between 50 - 60 deer and about ten of them were buck including a few small shooters. There was on doe taken and one doe missed. We have yet to see the big shooters we saw in archery season but they are holed up somewhere. I believe that has been the problem, the deer have had no reason to move and unless you flush them out you won't see them. Well good luck to the rest of you.

cardeer

I want to hunt with you 50 or 60 deer .How come everyone did not get at least a doe????? I have 7 tags lets go, LOL

PABuck_HNTR

I don't think people are saying there are no deer out there, but I think people who have been hunting a long time in Pa. see the deer heard getting smaller and smaller. I think it concerns some of us to see the words of the Game Commission saying they want to kill off alot of doe.


How do we know there are 1.6 million deer in Pa's woods. The estimates are from the Commission right? What about there estimating proceedures? How do they know how many deer are shot and not recovered? How many deer are killed by hunters who don't mail in their harvest cards? How many deer are killed by coyotes and bears and cars? How many don't survive the winter? All guess work.... And if they guess wrong we as hunters should hold them accountable. ASnd I don't think the car insurance industry should be involved in any deer population discussions. We pay our premiums and if we hit a deer with a car then they pay the bills... That's how it is supposed to work.. Not slant the odds in the insurance companies favor. And I see that happening too.

HuntingBry

I agree that we have to rely on the PGC for the numbers, but knowing how they estimate those numbers through deer density, radio tracking, herd dispersal, breeding predictions and monitoring, and good old-fashioned counting I feel the estimates are pretty accurate. I've been hunting here for the last 20 years and the herd is bigger now than its ever been. We still see tons of deer spotlighting, many more than 10 years ago, and see plenty of deer hunting. There are many hunters that may not see deer in the same spots they had in the past, but that doesn't mean deer aren't in the woods. Patterns are changing and we need to change with them to be effective hunters.

Kyle3

Well I just got back from our camp tonight in Bradford County, and was able to shoot a doe this morning. Other then that I saw no deer on Monday whatsever, and then yesterday I saw 8 doe and 2 bucks, one was definitly a shooter and the other one I couldn't get a good look at. It might have been a six point or a 4 point, I just saw it from the side. Other then that my brother was the only other person at Camp and he shot a doe on Tuesday morning and a 65 pound male coyote on Tuesday night that came passed his stand on the same trail as mother and two yearlings were on about 10 minutes earlier. Will be back up Saturday lookin for a buck.

951hunter

I am a NY hunter. This year I was invited to hunt the PA opener in beach lake at a friend house. I had 27 doe and a fork come by my stand. I shot a coyote at 3:30 pm. It was a bad shot with a very faint blood trail. The coyote was chasing one of the doe and I shot him on the move. I tracked him for a while and could not find him before dark. One of the guy's hunting with out crew didn't see any deer at all. He was about a 1/4 mile away from me. He was complaining that the are no deer around. Two different hunters on the same land with two different perspectives. You just have to be at the right time and place your luck can change. I have had plenty of off day's in the woods. That's why it's called hunting. Sooner or later every dog has it's day.

GREEK HUNTER

what type of tag do you need to kill a coyote

cardeer

Greek your hunting license in deer season is all you need

thecontractor

I honostly believe that over the years the deer have adapted due to human encounter and have gone mostly nocturnal. I think they bed down in the thickest roughest stuff they can find during daylight hours and move only when "forced" to move.