Whit--How many old timer hunters go to butcher shops? It has been years since I dropped one off at a butcher shop, and only because of the warm weather and I had to go to work that night. It is real common around here for hunting "Crews", or families, to have all the equipment a butcher shop does. Have you seen the big push at Cabela's (Just a couple mountains over from me) to sell deer processing equipment? The deer count is a system that's time never was. Guessing deer kill? Even if it was a semi-accurate system 20 years ago, how can it be now? Suppose 70 hunters out of a 100 were getting deer in 1985 and not reporting it. Now suppose that 50 of those same guys see and kill no deer in the last 4 years and do not report it. Under Alt, the GC KNEW the lies. I brought up the FACT that on report cards, one used to designate whether or not it was a public land kill or private land kill. This stopped soon after hunters started to complain about deer numbers. A representative for the GC told me there never was such a thing. He also denied that the GC claimed there were 38 deer per square wooded mile in PA, even after two years of record deer kills. I will tell you how out of touch the GC used to be. Are you familiar with the little black and white maps the GC puts in the GAME NEWS magazine? I remember one that was for crop damage (I am guessing it was the mid 90's) across the whole state. I showed it to some guys I work with and they could not believe it. The map showed 500 (+- 10) for the WHOLE state that year. One of my co-workers said "There are that many killed in a 5 mile radius of here." The problem with the GC staff is the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. The Deer Management word use to be that the deer were eating the laurel down to the roots. For years we were seeing yellow and orange spots on the laurel leaves. I could see the difference in big areas I had hunted for years that were starting to thin out. Now it is accepted that the PA laurel has a blight. Maybe the Tree and Bush section finally talked to the Deer Management Section? The PAGC is getting better, but has a long way to go.
