jhalfhill

well i'm running out of good hunting spots. after 4 or 5 years of this two week doe season, it is really taking effect. so many hunters here and so many days to fill tags. we put on drives ALL DAY yesterday and only saw a handful of doe. these were the same drives that we'd always see many deer come out of. i've noticed significant decline in deer population in all of my hunting spots in fayette, greene, and washington counties. this is farmland so the land can easily support large herds. how long must we let a few college grad biologists screw up our deer herds to please a few millionaires who own insurance companies? they're selling out the sport we love just to make profit. antler restrictions and bigger bucks will work without herd reduction. i'm tired of the game commissions BS

zekeskar

Please explain how the game laws are ruining hunting where you are (I'm genuinely curious, not trying to incite you). I can't really understand from what you've written. Also, I don't understand why a college educated biologist shouldn't be involved in game laws. Who do you suggest, politicians or untrained citizens?

davester

The deer are in hiding right know, I think there in unhunted areas, it will pick-up again at the end of Dec., good luck!

mauser06

what hes talking about is the state starting a program to reduce the states overall population to make it healthier and reduce "overbrowsing" and also to correct the majorly out of whack buck to doe ratio...from my limited passed expirience(starter hunting at 12..in 98 or 99... every year till now)...my first year they started all this...youth could take does on the saturdays only i think..then a 3 day doe season...the next year they let youth take does all the 2week buck season i think..and the normal 3day doe season...same the 3rd year...then the 4th year they started it hard core i think it was...2 week buck/doe season running together.....with antler restrictions....the whole state was 3pts to a side i believe...cant remember...i know where i hunted that year it was 3pts...but now its 4pts to a side.......they also increased the number of doe tags to be sold by ALOT......that year started the massacre.....now...after a few years....hunting in alot of areas is plain terrible....northern and centeral areas(mountains) used to have large herds of deer.....dad used to tell me of seeing 20-50deer running together all the time was common...but youd be lucky to see a buck in the group....areas like that took the brunt of the herd reduction......but most everywhere is seeing a decline now....and to tell you the truth...i dont know if the antler restricions are doing much....weve always grown a few whoppers...but i dont know..this year we were seeing better bigger bucks in better numbers....but alot got whacked by cars from what weve heard....i think part of the problem with the antler restrictions are to many illegal bucks being taken.....and junior hunters 16 and under...disabled people and military persons can take and buck they want.....and with the other majority of hunters not taking the small bucks that are illegal its not hard for the people who legal can take them to find one and take them.....i think its realllllly hindering the possible result..we got good genes...good nutrion in most areas.....and can produce some whoppers if we let them grow....i know alot of guys take illegal bucks regaurdless of antler restricions...either shot them and let them lay.....shoot them and make juniors tag them....or shoot them and take the horns and butcher the deer themselves.....i dont oppose to youth, disabled and military to taking bucks adults arent allowed....gets kids into hunting and bagging bucks ect....but i think the first 5 years or so ALL hunters should have been held to the ARs....then i think it would worked alot better....and then there would be ALOT of guys passing 1.5yr old 8pts just because there are so many bigguns running around that guys pass small legal bucks...i know i would if there were alot of BIG legal bucks.....but alot of 6 and 8pts here(some parts of the state are 3pts 1inch long to a side....the western part of the state is 4pts to a side 1 inch long) are still only 1.5yrs old......heck my buddy took a 4x6 that im willing to bet was only 1.5yrs old....tiny little scrappy rack..but it was a 10pt!......i dont know.....something needs done.....i will say however that i do think it got the buck to doe ratio ALOT better....before...i bet it was 10-20 does to one antlered buck when i first started....now its a bit better....but the overall number is lower......so i dont know....ive never been much of a buck hunter....it was just hard to find horns in the beginning of my career....now i see bucks once in a while...but a legal buck is a diffrent story for me.....passed a legal buck yesterday that got shot by my buddy down the line in the drive.......happy for him...but i couldnt put 4 inch long points on that bucks head....to make it worse it was a half rack..other side was a club...or claw...like a mini moose antler...about the size of my fist....with a bunch of little points....pretty wild..i would had him mounted.....other side had 4 normal nice points.....would have been a nice 8pt if it was normal racked......but that other side is awesome......too bad...but im just trying to be lawful.....tomarrows another day....and im the only one with a gun......but i only have one driver...but hes the best....and knows where the deer lay and where they will come out.....with noone else to worry about we just may have a decint day....the first day him and his daughter hunted like that and he took a buck...and his daughter missed....saw like 6 bucks by 11am......i still have mixed feelings about it all.....even though after yesterday ARs ticked me off pretty good....i just cant count points.....unless its a monster or standing in a clearing i dont think ill ever beable to count points.....i dont think many guys bother.........spray and pray and get lucky.....or just do an illegal act....heard of guys breaking off horns to tag them as does ect ect.............but none personally

jhalfhill

we used to have a three day doe gun season. about 4 or 5 years back they changed it to a full two weeks and started handing out mass amounts of doe tags. ever since, the deer population has been on a very steady decline. i'm telling you state gamelands and public hunting grounds are wiped out. hardly any deer at all. the only "herds" left are on posted ground and private property. even these herds are signifiantly smaller than before. i just disagree with the game commissions thoery of smaller herds producing more food and bigger bucks. the wlidlife managment unit i live in is strictly farmland with plenty of food sources to support alot of deer. i'm tired of walking 5-10 miles in a day just to see two or three doe, its getting old. pretty soon the names going to change from "hunting" to "leasurely dressing like a hunter and walking"

Okie807

Any idea what the total herd population and yearly harvest totals have been since the new seasons and limits took effect? In Oklahoma we've just in the last few years went to a 16 day gun season during which you can take one buck and one doe at any time. Also, lots of areas in the state will have two special weekends later on when an extra doe may be harvested. We have been averaging about 100,000 deer taken during all seasons for the last few years, and from what I've read the herd is estimated at about 500 to 750 thousand. Hearing about what's going on in your state makes me curious about what these biologists and others are trying to do.

badman

they want your guns they want to unarm this nation so government has total control over you you see it happening everyday with the sh!@ they are doing especially with that thief in the whitehouse without hunting they think many will give up their guns and quit this is what they want they want you to get on your knees as many are doing now they are rounding you up little by little in small groups because we are to powerful right now to hit us with the BS all at once Join or start a malitia i advise all to do or get ready to stand alone and lose when they come for your freedoms this is a plan they set in motion and you see it in every state not just pa but all of them without hunters and armed people you are goanna go into slavery most people are secure in their homes and family and are to scared to stand upfor the constitution and the many people who died for it in the pastfor you to live today as free people where we control the government and they don't control us open your eyes people

fruit loops

Sometimes I wonder about that, If they want us to quit and get rid of our firearms.They could get rid of hunting but they are not takeing my arms from me withoutthem packing a lunch.It will be a long hardstruggleI promise.

kevin1

I would reccomend that you speak with those same "college grad biologists" whose salaries your taxes are paying and get the real story instead of that heresay******** that you're spouting . Your state's deer population has been too high for years and what you're seeing now is perfectly normal after a substantial culling effort . The real dividends are just around the corner , a better sex ratio , far less over browsing , and a healthier herd . The kind of deer numbers that Pennsylvanians have gotten accustomed to in recent years were way above the carrying capacity of the state , not just the little chunk of farmland that you hunt on , so the problem was bigger than you seem to realize .

HuntPA

If no one out there understands Pennsylvanias Game Commission laws you can read my post I made titled "Pennsylvania Hunters." The game commission due to MR. GARY ALT... yeah thats his name so we can all blame him... well they say the deer are destroying the forests. But, if you ask around in PA you will notice that there have not been any logging of any sort to make up new forest and they blame the deer for grazing too much and destroying newly grown trees. Well I am also sick and tired of the game commissions BS about the deer population and how they will destroy the forests if they aren't brought down toa good population. If you look at the game commission they want a ONE SINGLE deer in 100 acres and I have a 300+ acre farm and that means there can only be 3.4 or so deer per my farm. You can tell us it's called hunting, but you can't hunt what's not there. If this continues by shooting off the does the deer population will become extinct and we'll have to do what we did hundred or so years ago and that's reintroduce the whitetail into pennsylvania.. if there was any way of getting the game commission to understand the situation they would have knocked off doe season for the next couple years so that the herds get bigger.. i know there are nicer bucks now because of the antler restrictions but they are only nicer because you only see that buck in a single outing a day.. so far after hunting all archery and gun season i have seen 4 deer. In previous years I would have seen a total of close to 100 by now.. it may have been the same deer but it kept me aware and awake while i was hunting and it made me wanna go back out to hunt.. but now only seeing 4 deer in the past 2 months is a disgrace and is making people want to quit hunting... that is why the game commission is thinking about raising license prices... if they do this i don't know what will happen.. PA is going through a bad time right now with deer management and we have kicked off Gary Alt from the board for the game commission but this won't help us, we need something better, we need to save the does.. you might even see no hunting or the 2 week season going back to one week and no does allowed... this would be great for a couple years... but thats just my two cents and what the hell do i know