My take on PA deer
 

First off, I am a NY Hunter, due to personal reasons, I was only able to hunt PA 1 day this year... Opening Day. I hunted on Public Land (open to hunting by a tree company). I had a good area scouted out. I hunted all day and passed on 1 deer, a button buck. Shortly after I passed on it, it wandered towards another hunter who was about 200 yards from me.. and he shot it. On my drive home at dusk, (about 10 miles through PA) I saw about a dozen deer hanging on camp poles, and on back of cars. Every deer I saw was antlerless. The last time I hunted this hollow about 3 years ago, I saw several bucks hanging. After getting home, I got 2 phone calls from friends. One shot a button buck and the other guy, hunting the same hollow I did, said that he saw only 1 deer all day. A few years ago, this guy always... I mean always got his deer. Usually it was a forkhorn or spike with the occassional 6 ptr. But, the bottomline is that he was happy and proud of what he harvested.

Times are a changing... I don't know if for the better or worst... but I do know of better and happier times not too long ago. I don't plan on quitting PA hunting, I love hunting and I have some good spots on public land... but it's getting more difficult to see a deer than even 3 years ago... Is this for the better? By the way, where I hunted was in McKean County. In my opinion, too many button bucks are getting killed. In the past hunters waited for that spike or any antlered buck. Now that deer sightings are down, hunters don't want to get skunked so they are killing the first deer they see. How is killing button bucks improving the deer herd?

RE: My take on PA deer
 

The goal may not be to improve the deer herd. The PGC deer managment is to mostly benefit the forest, with a secondary effect being it will improve 'herd health' by bringing it in line with its habitat.

Pa deer population is estimated at 25dpsm and our goal is to shoot enough deer to get it to 12dpsm (per pgc web) site.

So any deer will do... you shoot mature does and you lose that deer plus the fawns she would have had. Shoot the BB an you just lose one deer that might have been a decoration for the wall...no great loss. Either way they both eat trees and are ruining our ecosystem. Gary ALt in Jan 2004 at Audubons conference on deer overabundance that north of rt80 there has not been a tree regenerate in 50yrs. ??

If you buy that, then you also would understand that herd reduction to save the forest is the main goal, not providing better buck hunting.

RE: My take on PA deer
 

I wish I had a scanner (that works) so I can take pics of the acres and acres of "regrowth" we have here in Warren County. I have always been proud of our great whitetail hunting we have in PA..................... now I'm ashamed!!!!

RE: My take on PA deer
 

Gary Alt was brought in to sell a program, and the hunters bought it hook, line, and sinker.
He is a good salesman and that is all he is.

RE: My take on PA deer
 

I agree