buck460XVR
New member
Originally posted byGunplummer:
I have hunted Pa. for a long time. I used to hunt Maryland. I still hunt West Virginia. There is one guy on this thread that absolutely does not know what he is talking about. The Pa. deer herd is a wreck. I still occasionally hunt Bucks county (Special Regs/Kill all the doe) and the buck to doe ratio is so out of wack that I would swear in court that there is now more buck than doe down there. People that embrace this so called management are almost always hunting on posted, controlled property. That is the only way that type of management can work. Up here in the mountains, there are now way less large bucks than there used to be. In the 80's when the deer stupidity started, there were mountains around here that would have made deer qualify as an endangered species. That is not a joke. The Game Commission in Pa. could not manage a hotdog stand.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. We all know that opinions vary. But altho overall hunter success is a good indication of whether a deer herd is being properly managed, the success rate of an individual hunter doesn't mean a thing. If an individual hunter is continually unsuccessful while others all around him are successful, it cannot be considered the fault of the management plan. According to the reported numbers of deer killed in PA, the deer herd seems to be in good shape. Total deer killed is consistently up 2-300% since 1980. Seems some folks are still having success somewhere. Total hunters is on the decline everywhere. Not because of lack of deer, but mostly because of lack of access to good hunting land. This is why sound management programs are so important on public land. Many places we used to hunt are now posted or by lease only. Hunter numbers are also down because us baby boomers are gettin' to old to hunt/dying and the new generation is not being actively recruited.
Here's a good link to another opinion on Antler restrictions in Pa. I consider it a pretty reliable source. Just my opinion tho. I found these two comments interesting.....
“Guys who don’t like antler restrictions complain until they take the biggest buck of their life, and then they say it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread,”
“It just goes to show you that hunting mature bucks is far different from hunting 1 1/2-year-olds, and that is something that hunters in Pennsylvania are going to have to adjust to if they want to fill their tags.”
Here's the whole story......... Antler Restrictions in PA.