I see that this question has been up for a bit and got no replies. I'm an archery hunter, mostly.
I have been hunting a few areas in Lancaster for the last four years. Mostly the Game Lands next to Mt. Gretna. This year I've been out many evenings and a few mornings. The second Sat. morning I had a mystery deer walk under my stand in the dark. Then after it was light, a spike and a 6-point came by. In another area close by I saw two doe while hunting and one doe while scouting. In another area where there are a pretty good amount of rubs, I have seen zip, notta, even though I have spent several evenings there. They must be coming through there at night. During all of my scouting of this area covering allot of ground, I have seen very few droppings. There are some deer around, but I have to say, very few.
Another area I hunted is up on the north side of Swatara State Park, on the north side of Swatara Creek. Three years ago I would see a few deer in there. But two years ago some Mountain Bike Club got permission to cut a BUNCH of trails throughout the area. Now you can't find a spot where you are more than 20 yards away from a bike trail anywhere. During archery season the bikers are constantly riding around in there and I have seen no deer since. During rifle season last year I hit a nice buck that got pushed into that area by a crowd of hunters on the other side of the creek. I watched the deer go into a thicket and lay down just up the hill from me. I was going to give it a few minutes to lay-up and die when I saw another hunter who I guess saw me shoot it, start into that thicket. Of course he kicked it up and it ran. He actually started running after it. He fired at it twice before it got across the creek back to the other side. I got in my truck and went over there only to find more human tracks following the blood trail. I guess what you need to know is there are some deer here, but you need to get out and find a decent area to hunt them. If you can find some private land you will be MUCH better off.
