Whitetail in PA

[greenihunter]

I live in Scerery Hill in Washington county, this year was bad for hunting, me and my family hunted archery and rifle and only seen limitied deer, the PA game commission would like you to believe the buck doe ratio is near perfect and would like to blame the weather, but in my area the weather was nice on opening day, I did see less hunters then ever and heard very little shots. When I cut my fields this year noticed very little deer and all my surrounding farming neighbors noticed the same. Now if you travel to Greencounty certain section are overrun with deer and restricted areas are overrun, The game commission stopped doe hunting for the first week but gave out the same amount of doe permits as years before, so which is it no deer or no deer. I will post my land and the surrounding areas will be too, (about 700 acres to 900 total) not because we want to but a hunter will shot the first legal thing they see, so if they have a permit they will shoot, so I guess you can say the game Commision is the blame. They need looked at this plan of a kill all hard, and see who is lining thier pockets.When I asked others hunters why they did'nt hunt they all pretty much said they stopped because of the deer program, in one way or another.

[mhouck06]

Not really familiar with your area... i usually hunt 2C. Anyway, as a whole, the PGC has done wonders for the deer heard. It was out of control. The whole plan is finally starting to take shape. They took it too far in some WMU's (from what I have heard mostly up north.. sounds like maybe your area too) but they are adjusting accordingly. The health of the over all deer heard in PA has increased dramatically. There is still work to be done, I dont know if the "work" will ever be done, but they are doing a great job. Alot of hunters that have stopped hunting are ones that were used to seeing 10+ deer a day all the time in rifle season. Yeah everyone has to hunt a little harder (not saying you didnt)... but the state is heading in the right direction for the health of the deer heard and the health of our forests. Right now, for PA im eating a buck tag and two doe tags. Did not fill a single tag here. Not for lack of trying. Saw a decent amount of deer in archery... rifle season was rough for me, but trust me.. there are still LOTS of deer out there. I agree with your point that there are not near as many hunters in the woods as there used to be and I believe that def impacts what you see while you are out. We used to just sit in rifle and let everyone else do the pushing. There would be deer running everywhere it seemed. You cant just blame the game commission. Alot of things have changed here.. you cant really blame one thing. Plus... all these people that complain are mostly the same people that when the regs changed from two weeks of bucks and three days of doe to the combined seasons.. are the people who bought the tags and harvested the deer. So who is to blame... You might as well blame all the hunters that bought the tags and shot the deer.

Just another point of view for you to consider.

[SwampLife]

I <3 PGC

Management program is doing wonders where we hunt in Crawford County. Been hunting the same property for 13 years now and the same area, well my family has been there for generations. Definitely less deer than a decade ago but still plenty to hunt.

There were WAY less tracks around our cornfields this year in particular due to TONS of acorns in the woods.

Not only are there less total deer but a much larger percentage of those deer are now 2.5+ year old bucks which you just aren't going to see as often. You are going to see less deer, but they are there.

I don't know if that made any sense.

[DEER30]

First off I am not a PA hunter and never have been. But I do hunt within 5 miles of the Mason Dixon in MD. The deer herd that I have seen over the past few years while driving through PA in Adams County and on my way to see family in Reading or Hanover looks healthy. I see numerous deer and some of the biggest bucks I have seen in the wild. MD has a large deer herd and have finally taken the steps to reduce the buck tags to 3 (from 6) each year to begin correcting its buck to doe ratio. Unlimited does can be taken in my region. But if the MD population is this good within 5 miles of the border, and my observations from the truck have been positive, it looks like PA's deer are doing well?

I got my butt chewed out by other hunters from PA on other hunting forums about this same question. They all adamantly declared that PA has a horrible deer herd and blame the game commission 100%. That's just not what I see personally but PA is a big state and I am not sure where they were hunting. You guys are on the front lines and hope that your deer are thriving!

[robinhudda]

I <3 PGC

Management program is doing wonders where we hunt in Crawford County. Been hunting the same property for 13 years now and the same area, well my family has been there for generations. Definitely less deer than a decade ago but still plenty to hunt.

There were WAY less tracks around our cornfields this year in particular due to TONS of acorns in the woods.

Not only are there less total deer but a much larger percentage of those deer are now 2.5+ year old bucks which you just aren't going to see as often. You are going to see less deer, but they are there.

I don't know if that made any sense.

Yaaaa I am completely agree with SwampLife ..that is program of hunting should be well managed and all the person should follow instruction which told earlier of hunting..
Once i was go to texas whitetail deer hunting with my family at that time my age is about 15 years old ..my parents gather all the information from http://www.star-s-ranch.com/whitetail-deer-hunting.php website ..which is the best and very important information share about the hunting ...At that time we face a lot of trouble..I will discuss later...ok bye..

[CGArtcher]

Well if it is any consolation. We in WV are overrun with Does and few mature Bucks, as hunters are allowed to be harvested at 3 bucks a year with a 3" spike on one side. But I also hear last season was tough on a lot of hunters here Those that were successful adapted to the Deer. Acrons were plentiful and the deer were not in the fields, they had enough to eat in the woods, so sightings were down.
Most Hunters in our state are begging DNR to reduce the Buck harvest and increase the Doe harvest. But no go and Hunters are complaining about too many Antlerless deer and lower body weights. So it seems like no matter what State agencies try to do, it is loose loose.