2009/2010 Deer harvest numbers

[buckbeast]

I saw this and thought I would pass it along. There are definitely fewer deer in my area than there were, but there are still good hunting opportunities.

HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Game Commission today reported that hunters harvested an estimated 308,920 deer in the state’s 2009-10 seasons, which is an eight percent decline from the previous seasons’ harvest of 335,850. 

Hunters took 108,330 antlered deer in the 2009-10 seasons, down 11 percent from the previous license year’s harvest of 122,410, but similar to the 2007-08 harvest of 109,200.  Also, hunters harvested 200,590 antlerless deer in 2009-10, which is a six percent decline from the 213,440 antlerless deer taken in 2008-09.  The 2007-08 antlerless deer harvest was 213,870. 

            Bureau of Wildlife Management personnel currently are working to develop 2010 antlerless deer license allocation recommendations for the April Board meeting.  Calvin W. DuBrock, Game Commission Bureau of Wildlife Management director, said that in addition to harvest data, the staff will be looking at population trends, deer reproduction, forest regeneration, and deer-human conflict for each Wildlife Management Unit (WMU).

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=12775&PageID=648010&mode=2&contentid=http://pubcontent.state.pa.us/publishedcontent/publish/marketingsites/game_commission/content/resources/newsreleases/newsrelease/articles/release__027_10.html

[manofthe45]

So much for the crossbows will decimate the herd fights.

We had horrible weather this year. It rained almost every weekend.  Didn't get cold until late in the season.  Atleast here in the SE the rut was late.  Took my 8 this year opening day of rifle after a long day sitting in the rain right after he mounted a doe.  Alot of stories this year of bucks activly chasing during rifle season

[Halwg]

Interesting.  The harvest was down in WV this year, as well. 

[DDelle338]

  I really wish I would have been wrong. But, I knew that was what the numbers were going to prove. The herd has be decimated. They are going to have to make some serious changes to correct the huge blunder that they made. 

[manofthe45]

Delle I already have to many wasted punches on my card going round and round in this dance with you to bother trying again.  No matter what the numbers were they would have matched your desire to claim the PGC has decimated the herd.  I am hopeing one day you will relise their job is to manage the habitat for all animals not just the "golden deer" or atleast be able to post of the name of a single person in your area willing to go on the record that a WCO put a gun to their head and forced them to fill a doe tag. 

For the record I have a grand total of 4.75 acres of private land to deer hunt.  I hunt the same public land open to everyone else and have almost 240 deer sightings from sept early archery to the end of the first week of rifle.  Was in texas the second week of rifle and only hunted birds after I got home

[DDelle338]

  First post I made in months, and here you go again. You said it in the first paragraph. You go round and round with me on this dance. You don't have to reply. It's not a "Duty" of yours to HAVE TO REPLY to what I post. Just because I have a different prospective  (true reality) of what is going on does not mean that you have to try and "Correct" me when I make a post that does not "conform" to you're sheltered version of reality.
  AGAIN I'll just say that you are one of the lucky few that have the opportunity to hunt in one of the pockets of deer here in the state. Just count your blessings and leave it at that. Please.
  Thousands of people are complaining. The newspapers are printing that the game commission and representatives are real worried that people are not going to be buying licenses this year because of the low numbers. The commission has a count and the numbers are in FACT DOWN! The kill was in fact DOWN, and here you go again, making a post that insinuates that I'm full of crap.
  The numbers are down and in your post, you blame the rain. Ok, there may be fewer hunters in the woods when it rains. But it's often good hunting when it's raining. Unless it's a torrential downpour. But then you stated that the rut was late moving activity into the rifle season. Isn't that a GOOD thing for the rifle hunter?!!! More deer moving with only one thing on their mind.
  Aw heck with it. I'm done "dancing" with you. You don't know the steps and you like to step on toes.
PLEASE, get off your soap box and give it a rest.
  Blessings to you.

[Graybeard]

I'm not in PA and have never hunted there tho I do have a friend who lives and hunts there on his private farm of 200 acres size. From his observations and the hundreds of photos he sends me each year I don't think deer numbers are down on his land. We've been corresponding regularly since the late 90s before the rules change and his sighting aren't down as far as I can tell but like where each of you hunt that's one small area only tho he does travel around going from town to town shopping and reports his sightings along the way as well.

What I think is wrong in PA as in many place is a foolish attempt to manage the herd by point limits. What that does in my opinion is to eventually marginalize the bucks by allowing too many of the does to be bred by inferior bucks.

If you do not allow the culling of inferior bucks that will never ever become 8 pointers much less ten pointers then in time you're gonna have a buck population that is mostly not legal to hunt and will allow them to die of old age not by the hand of a hunter. In case you haven't figured it out I'm dead set against point restrictions.

I think it has one other unintended consequence as well that might be having the effect you mention in some areas especially on public land and that is that folks can't count points on those quick sightings so common to drives or pushes on public land. So they shoot and then ground check if they see antlers. If the points aren't there they leave it to rot. This in my opinion takes a huge toll on bucks in any area with such silly point restrictions and yes it's now happened here in Bama as well.

I doubt that the doe shooting is what's affecting the herd but a combination of these other factors. I'm also sure their deer harvest numbers are far far short of what is actuallly killed each year due to folks just not cooperating and reporting their kills and the numbers of bucks shot that don't have the required points so are left to rot and not reported.

I'm sure that in some pockets especially around public land the herd is down and in others especially with lots of private land I'm betting it's up. State wide I dunno but if like most places who've gone thru what PA has and now Alabama is doing the over all numbers are likely up state wide but the bucks are tending to get smaller not larger as the point rule is supposed to do thus aren't legal to shoot.

[DDZ]

Exactly GB!!  The point restrictions are a joke. Maybe they are working in some areas, but from the complaining I have been hearing from other hunters they are fed up with antler restrictions. Its a fact that the smaller bucks are left to do the breeding when next fall rolls around, because anything that resembles a buck with four points to a side is getting shot. The exact thing is happening in this area I've hunted for 38 years. We have always had a couple of nice bucks running around and after a number of years of antler restrictions it is the same. Just a couple of decent bucks running around. If fact the nicest bucks that have been taken by my family were all taken in the pre antler restriction era.
      Something that has really changed for the worst since antler restrictions is the little puny spikes that have never been in this area before. I remember when it was a rare siting to see a spike, and if someone did see a spike it had foot long spikes. Now little spikes are becoming the norm. I know this is due to the antler restrictions, because the genetic inferior bucks are doing more breeding than before. It has nothing to do with food source, because the same corn, and hay fields are here that were here forty years ago. Also plenty of white oaks around for bucks to get enough nutrition to grow big antlers.

Something else that peeves me is why don't the GC just make it three to a side statewide, if they have to have restrictions. Its pretty hard trying to see a two inch brow tine with a deer moving. Or even if its standing, facing not just the right way for you to count points. The fact is, it just plain isn't as fun buck hunting anymore. The first day of buck in Pa used to be huge. Hunters really looked forward to opening day. That is not the case anymore. I know for myself I could care less if I get a decent eight point or a four point, and many that hunt in this area feel the same way. I guess its an ego thing to get a buck with more antler on his head. Where many are just as happy with that four point. I haven't seen any Boone and Crocket bucks running around here, ever, and it sure ain't leaning toward any with the restrictions in place. 

I have not pulled the trigger on a buck since antler restrictions started, and I used to get a buck almost every year. It really doesn't matter to me because I have more fun now shooting a doe in flintlock season. If the GC doesn't change things the way they are now they better be prepared for less and less license sales.   
     
I know the GC says its to make a healthy herd. It looks like to me the exact opposite is happening. I think they envisioned more out of state license sales due to the bigger bucks they envisioned. It is all about money. Just watch what the GC does when license sales drop further.
 You guys that think the GC does everything right, because they say its right. Need to look past the trees to see the forest.     

[dougell]

Actually hunters need to look past the trees and see the lack of a future forest.The simply wiped out the prefered regeneration in huge areas of this state.Pa isn't Alabama or Texas so we don't have a growing season that's almost 12 months of the year.We have a short growing season and usually we have have plenty of snow cover.Deer need several lbs of browse a day to make it through winter in good shape.They don't just eat anything either.They're picky eaters and they devour the prefered species first,changing the composition of what's growing.This happened all over Pa,especially the northern tier and now the carrying capacity is much lower than it should be.

I can personally take or leave antler restrictions.They were never designed to turn Pa into a trophy state.All they were designed to do was put a higher percentage of bucks in an older age class.Bigger bucks are simply a bi-product.I personally don't know anyone who thinks we have a lower percentage of bigger bucks today.I live in 2g where we have the lowest deer density in the entire state.There's a large taxidemist just down the road from me.During the 80's he was mounting less than a hundred and fifty bucks a year and maybe getting one or two over 20 inches.The last 5 years,he's mounted between 350-400 bucks a year and now more than 20 have spreads over 20 inches.No one will convince me the bucks are getting smaller.The genetics issue is not an issue at all.Pa's antler restrictions are different than other states that use them.The majority of our bucks are being killed after the rut,allowing these bucks to breed prior to getting killed.That isn't the case in states like Mississippi.Furthermore,the does contribute 50% of the genetics.There's simply no way to alter the genetics in a wild herd in this short of a time period,especially when the majority of bucks are getting shot after they'vce bred.The older bucks are a different animal and they're seen less.This past September,I got 15 different bucks on trail cams in one area.Out of those bucks,probably 6-7 were at least 3 years old.I hunted those areas quite a bit as did several other people that I know and not one of the older bucks was ever seen during daylight hours.Had I not had cameras out,it would have been easy to assume there were no bigger bucks around.Those small spikes are most likley attributed to being born late.Most areas of Pa have an exptremely small number of fawns getting bred.As the habitat improves,more fawns will get bred but they'll be bred later in the years.This will account for those small spikes being seen in the fall.They'll catch up in a year or two and there's nothing wrong with their genetics.


We don't have a perfect system in Pa nd most likely not everyone will always be happy.We definately needed less deer and the hunting is still good if you hunt where the deer should be,not where you want them to be.