PA DEER HUNTERS???????????

[monkeyball]

OK,so I am 51 yrs old.I have been bow hunting since I was 12. How many of you remember the "1 and your done" system that was used back then.If you were an archer and chose to kill a buck OR a doe,you were done.PERIOD!! No multiple tags and no chance to kill the opposite sex of what you had already taken.
  We had deer around because we were not killing them all. It was a one and done deal.
  I do not have the solution for the condition our herd is in,but I do have the right to choose how many deer I kill,and at the present time the "1 and your done" is what I am going by.

                                       Craig

[ultrasweet]

I don't know what the answer is. I do know that something has to be done. The question is how do we organize.I am all for getting the youth involved but it's hard to do with the numbers I have been seeing.My son doesn't want to go out any more.

[danseitz]

Jsweka, I understand your concern about getting rid of the Pgc, and what would take it's place. No offence but the argument is bogus. For one thing other states function well without a separate game agency. And another the PGC does not serve the interest of deer hunting and deer hunters in Pa. Honestly, I cannot see what we would be giving up other than  a proven sham agency.

As for the UBP, they became a worthless bunch when they supported the "Resource First" concept of the PGC obligating them to endorse whatever the PGC determined to do. When Alt and the boys posed their program of massive herd reduction, the UBP fell in lockstep.

Anything to lose from getting rid of the game commission? I don't think so.

[superkodiak]

Also had a rough PA season this year.  I mostly hunt on public land, but even the few private land spots that I have were dismal at best.  I wish doe tags were given out by county versus management units again, and we were back to the 3 day doe season for rifle.  Of course guys are killin the herd when they have tags for either sex during the full length of rifle season.

[George D. Stout]

What really irritates me is that the Pa. Game Commission hires people to make scrapes, rubs and tear up brush in all of the brushy areas of SGL 48, near the top of the mountain.  They do it so well you would swear there were real bucks there tearing up the area.  But I never see the bucks, so it surely must be that awful Game Commission doing it 8^).  

I'm also a life member of that useless UBP organization.  What a bunch of boneheads to actually want to work with any agency when everyone else wants to bitch about them but not help in any manner.

I did have a seven point outsmart me on three different occasions; was nearly run over by a big black bear, and had ruffed grouse drumming where I haven't seen them in a couple decades.

Of course everything is the fault of the PGC or UBP.  Nice to have someone to blame other than our own incapability.

[danseitz]

Yeah, George, everything is wonderful. Deer abound in every area of the state. The pgc's program of deer eradification had no effect on public land deer. We're all just a bunch of complainers sitting in our trucks along the road griping about not seeing any deer.

But, hey, if there's more trilliums and tweeties in the woods since the deer were sent packing, it makes everything worthwile.

[Earl Jeff]

With close to one million licensed hunters. A single hunter doesn't need to have 4 or 5 doe tags. I've been hunting for 30+ years now and I don't care what anyone short of GOD say's, UBP PGC AARP FBI CIA ETC. there is only a fraction of the deer that there once was. PEROID.

[danseitz]

Earl,
You're right on the money. I had one idiotic Wildlife Conservation Officer respond to me on a PGC shill site that the drastic decline in the herd was not caused by the introduction of a buck/doe concurrent season and amping up the doe licenses, but was solely the result of poor habitat. What a crock.

[Earl Jeff]

Isn't it funny how poor the habitat is and every year you can go out in the spring and find thousands of acorns rotting away that didn't get eaten up by all those hungry deer ??????????  :rolleyes:

[mmisciag]

I know that in one WMA there are 140K of doe tags issued and close to being sold.

This is my first year hunting. Not only that, I am using traditional tackle. I was out this morning hunting around the Valley Forge Park and didn't see anything. I know that they are around but am sure that they are in the park waiting for the sharp shooters with night vision glasses to get them.

Well there goes my season...

[Red Beastmaster]

"Nice to have someone to blame other than our own incapability."

Yep, that must be it. Don't know what I was thinking. It's all my fault. I completely forgot how to hunt. The lack of deer has nothing to do with several years of concurrent buck/doe rifle seasons.

Silly me.

[Hoser1268]

You said it Red!!!  I must relearn all over again.  My 25 years experience is right down the tubes.  The deer plum figured us out. The private land that I hunt in 5C "which the GC gives out the most permits in the state" Just doesn't have what the deer want anymore.  I guess I should take up knitting.

[George D. Stout]

A little touchy eh?  The deer issue is more regionalized than statewide.  And, it appears those doe tags get sold every year to hunters who have the option of using them or not.  Check out the PA conference on a sister forum and listen to your brothers who kill as many does as they can get DMAP permits for, then incessantly whine about the lack of game.  The issue isn't with the PGC alone....they don't kill any deer.

[Hoser1268]

You are right. I can only speak for myself and the people I hunt with. I have only killed 1 doe in the past 5 years "and that was beacause I didn't fill my buck tag that year". I buy 3 tags a year and can them.  You will always have guys that are greedy and need to kill but I think the GC just want's the money and don't care about the deer.  It's not just the deer.  They stock pheasant in my area and I can say i haven't seen one in the last 3 years. It just seems to me we pay more and have less.  If they need the money raise the license prices and cut the doe tags. I would rather pay a little more for my license and see game.

[monkeyball]

"One,and you're done." IF you want to see the herd come back.

                 Craig

[Red Beastmaster]

Not touchy George, just tired of being labeled if I say anything negative about the current situation.

You know I'm not one of those hunters who must kill kill kill. I get the biggest kick out of the hunting experience, totally refreshing, and I can't get enough of it. BUT, it sure would be nice to see the intended quarry once it awhile.

Good luck, Dave

[George D. Stout]

I know where you're coming from Dave; Scotty was down last week and was telling me some stories as well.  I just get tired of the PGC bashing when we really aren't sure what the root problem is. You need to come down here....I always put you guys into deer 8^).

You do need to come down and spend a day stumping so we can hash over what's really important, like arrows flying, new bows, etc.  I miss our stumping sortees.  

On another note, I've seen more Ruffed Grouse this year than I have in decades, in areas that they once flourished.  A good sign.

[Downwind Lefty]

As I posted previously I know there's a problem in my part of the state and it doesn't appear to be isolated to my area.

I don't have the answer but would hope the people tasked with recognizing, identifying and resolving it do have a line of sight. It started in my area when multiple tags were issued to everyone who wanted them and they were allowed to be used opening day of rifle season.

That said, I respectfully disagree with those who believe it's up to the hunters to manage the herd by purchasing the stamps but not using them. I believe the hunters are a consistent and predictable tool to be used in herd management, but it's not up to the hunters to be the decision makers and enforcers. Only the proper number of tags should be issued and only used at the correct time.

Like I said there are significantly fewer deer and turkey where I hunt, no where near as many hunters thus less people spending money in the small communities that have historically depended upon them for support and it's also tougher to get children involved. We need the children to pass along the heritage and let's face it, it takes time to learn how much fun the journey is. Like many kids what got me hooked all those years ago was the excitement of actually seeing game.

Speaking of my own area I don't believe we're trending in the right direction. I'd like to think for those areas that are impacted there's a plan being formulated right now to resolve. My fear is the lack of recognition that an issue actually exists. There's not even a consensus on this board.

[Earl Jeff]

 SOME PEOPLE JUST DON'T GET IT.

[danseitz]

Please, folks, don't think that the pgc is burning the midnight oil in executive session trying to determine a solution to the scarcity of deer on public land. We have a problem; they don't. What we have now is exactly what their deer eradification program was designed to accomplish. There is no mistake that they're working to correct.

And let's not proffer a solution that involves hunters controlling the size of the herd by manipulating the use and effectiveness of antlerless licenses. We just can't pull that off. That's the job of the pgc. They of course have to want to increase the herd. They don't.