RE: PA, The deer are gone........
 

WELL THIS RIFLE SEASON HAS SUCKED I SEEN 5 DEER AND SHOT AT ONE 5 POINT MISSED AND I WAS MAD BUT IT WAS OVER 200YDS AWAY FROM ME... I THINK IT HAS ALOT TO DO WITH THE FULL MOON THOUGH CAUSE I SEEN LOTS OF DEAR IN ARCHERY SEASON AND WHEN ITS A FULL MOON THEY COME OUT TO EAT NO REASON TO DO SO IN THE DAY.... I DO THINK THAT THE DEER AREN'T GETTING THE FOOD THEY SHOULD BE NOTHING FOR THEM TO EAT I FEEL THE PGC NEEDS TO PUT MORE FOOD PLOTS I SEEN ONE THIS WEEKEND THAT WAS NO HIGHTER THEN 16 IN AND IT WAS CORN AND ON THE OTHER SIDE SOME KIND OF GRAIN AND I WAS TALKING TO A FARMER HE SAID HAT IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ATLEAST 4 FEET TALL AND THAT THEY NEED BETTER SOIL BUT IT WILL TAKE TIME AND MONEY.... ASKED HIM WHY HE DOESN'T ASK THEM IF THEY NEED HELP HE SAID HE HAS AND THEY SAID NO.....WELL I DID SEE DEAR BUT NOW THERE GONE ONLY HAVE ONE MORE DAY THAT I CAN HUNT AND THATS NEXT SAT DON'T KNOW IF ITS WORTH IT OR NOT TO GO UP.....

RE: PA, The deer are gone........
 

You guys are forgetting about the full moon. I hunted in Monroe county in the brady's lake area and observed 20 deer. 2 were spikes, and one 4 pointer, the rest were baldies. While this was fewer deer that in past years, I do believe that an overharvest is necessary in Monroe to allow the forrest to regenerate. Take a walk in the woods this spring and count the oak saplings you find... IF ANY. They become deer salad before they get a foot tall. I say we give it a couple more years before we start screaming..

RE: PA, The deer are gone........
 

The deer are not gone. I hunted the Allegheny National Forest this year for the first time in the past six years. In the face of the worst hunting conditions (dry, unseasonably warm, full moon, NO HUNTING PRESSURE, no snow) I managed to take my doe easily and saw two shooter bucks that I couldn't shoot (tagged out archery). I saw about 5 deer/day still hunting in a crunchy mess - I expected to see zero.

As for the deer sign, I undoubtedly saw more and better buck sign than ever in the area we hunt. Our camp saw two really nice bucks (harvested neither) and multiple smaller shooters. There were twice as many scrapes/rubs as anyone has ever seen in that area... the deer were there, but the slight hunting pressure and warm temps caused them to become a shade reclusive, and lay tight.

Around home, most everyone has tagged out on their bucks/does.

I wish the deer herd WOULD shrink, b/c I've crunched two of 'em this fall with my car.

RE: PA, The deer are gone........
 

That is a very lame excuse for seeing fewer deer during rifle season. When the orange army hits the woods in the Poconos the deer move no matter what phase the moon might be in. The simple fact is that harvesting more adult doe and replacing them with more adult buck and fawns reduces recruitment which leads to fewer sightings and lower harvests.

RE: PA, The deer are gone........
 

I buy as many doe tags as I can get in WMU 3A as do my family and friends. WE FILL NONE OF THEM by choice!
Alt sold this "management program" to the vocal minority of hunters that are horn happy and are pleased with seeing less deer but nicer bucks.
The vast majority of deer hunters in Pa still want higher but manageble numbers off deer and are more than pleased with a spike or Y buck.
In 3A acorns and browse ar not in shortage yet all ALT says is "the forsts must regenerate..." I ask when did the oak trees stop dropping acorns? and when did recently timbered woodlands stop producing rasberry bushes..both mainstays of deer feed.
BTW 6 of us killed 5 bucks the first week of gun season, none were bigger than a scrubby 8 pt. that should have been a Y buck, and all these bucks were 2 1/2 yrs old or older...where are all these big bucks ALT promised with lower deer numbers?

RE: PA, The deer are gone........
 

Where I hunt we have seen just as many deer or even more than we have in the past year or two. We practiced not shooting any small bucks and shooting mature does before the AR were imposed and let me tell you, BE PATIENT. We have deer everywhere on our property and we are seeing just as many buck as we are doe and we are seeing them on consistent basis. Between 4 of us we have killed 3 mature doe and passed on several shooter bucks because we know there are bigger ones around. We have seen between 80 and 100 ( quite a few spike and fork horn) deer so far since the beginning of rifle season, more than we saw during the first couple weeks of archery. My best advice is to be patient and manage your own areas to the best of your ability and let things come full circle. Keep hunting hard.

RE: PA, The deer are gone........
 

If you are seeing more deer than Alt's plan has failed in your area. You won't be seeing half of what you are seeing now if Alt's plan succeeds and indvidual property owners can not stop the decline.