oldelkhunter

It's unfortunate that guys would resort to leaving animals in the woods to rot. I have seen that myself when I hunted NY state who has check stations on the highway...I was behind a pickup that saw the check station coming up and stopped and dumped off a buck that they had shot illegally(over the limit). They were caught by the Warden. I think the PA program is going in the right direction ...there are simply too many damn does in that herd. Previously most spikes and 3 points didn't survive the first hunting season.... Even if 16000 bucks were killed illegally the herd will still be better off with the restrictions...There should be a lot of young rack bucks running around next year along with a big herd of spikes and the doe population will be trimmed down.

boltman

I agree with oldelkhunter. You've got to look at the big picture, the goal is to kill a bunch of does and let most of the small bucks live. If 1600 mistakes were made, or even three times that, then that's still not enough to seriously affect the herd, but those 100,000 plus does that were most likely taken ARE enough to help out the herd, and the 200,000 small bucks that lived to see their second birthday will definately make for some better bucks next year. Evidently I have more faith in the hunters of Pennsylvania than most of the pennsylvania guys here. I don't think the majority of Pa. hunters are slobs and most will try to do the right thing. If a bunch of rednecks from Mississippi (me included) can resist the urge to shoot tiny bucks then surely a bunch of sophisticates from Pennsylvania can.

Charlie P

cyclone, I think everyone knows what restrictions are in place in Pa.

1,600,1,900 proably more like 10,000.How many people hunt where they don't even have to bring the deer to the road. Seriously if you are on priviate land and don't feel like tagging your deer , what's the chance you'll ever get caught?

SnoBall57

boltman, the majority of PA. hunters aren't slobs, but they sure do know how to WHINE! Man, there was a lot of frustration in the ranks this year! Seems most folks here just want to kill a buck EVERY year, and don't care if it's only a 4" spikey. As long as it has bone on its head. And for years a lot of "old school" hunters whined about killing the doe, and how increasing antlerless licenses would be the ruination of hunting in PA. Well, there are so many doe in My area that the Forestry Dept. has fenced off 3 large tracts of woodlands in prime hunting ground just so the oak seedlings get a chance to regenerate. The whiners did a good job thinning out the doe herd this year, though. They had to pass on the smaller buck, and killing a doe was the only way to fill the freezer. Hopefully the new regs. will get the herd under control.
And as far as the mistaken kills, there were quite a few this year because the GC took it easy on the violators, but next year they plan on getting tough with mistaken kills and the fines will be much steeper, so the "casual" violator will be a lot more careful. There won't be near as many mistakes next year, mark My word!

bear72

1600 my local paper had 1900 I wonder what the real number is?????

OlMossyHorns

I hear alot of people talkin about deer being left in the woods to rot. Have you ever thought that some of those deer may have been shot by juniors (legally) and just not recovered?? I know not all of them were shot by juniors, and some were left to rot, but who knows.

Shots that are True....Pass right Through!!!

nightmare68

As a advid deerhunter in the great state of Pa. I was not only happy to hear of the restrictions but thrilled. I have hunted deer for 18 yrs. in 9 differet counties of Pennsylvania. I have seen rotting deer every year that I have hunted. So i was not surprised to see that number. although I will put most of the blame on some dishonest hunters I refuse to put it all on them. Because Pennsylvania much like any other state in the union has what my frends and I refer to as sloths. these are the people who put no extra effort in hunting. they are the ones who's physical conditioning program throughout the year consist's walking from their truck to the front door after work. and who's idea of practicing with their weapon is getting it out 2 days before opening day and shooting 5 shots at the beer of their choice targets ( you know the ones i mean ) then settling down to what amounts to a keg party at their freinds camp. these people spend no time scouting deer they just rely on good ol' uncle ted's spot that he put them at when they were 12 and they got lucky enough to bag a bragger. they are the same people who don't vigorously track a deer once they have fired at it, they just write it off as " killed up the haller there where those other guys are" !
In my opinion (for what it's worth) the state is doing a great job by insisting that these moron's identify their targets or run the risk of having a game warden catch them or a law abiding citizen turn them in.
These people need to get the message DO IT THE RIGHT WAY OR GET OUT OF OUR WOODS!!!!!!!! If all goes as planned maybe hunters that truely hunt will be able to reap the bennifits of this plan. Good luck to all hunters and god bless you and AMERICA!!!!!