Im originally from NWPA and live in GA now. I go home every year to hunt with my dad. Really I mainly sit with him and help him count points. We are hunting on private land in Mercer County, but its only 200 acres and all around it is huntable. Definately, the hunting is much better since AR.
Last year for example, we saw 6 bucks and 3 does by 9 o'clock. He killed a 125" 8 point.
2 years before he had an opportunity at daylight at a 125"+ buck.
Two years before that he killed a 120+ 21" wide 8 point by 7:30. We sat the rest of the day and saw 11 bucks and close to 50 deer. Im sure some/many of those deer came back through, but still it was an amazing day.
This land had never produced a good buck since it was bought in 1989, and never had anyone seen as many bucks as we are seeing now.
Someone posted a link last year to a buck contest in Meadville at Community Chevrolet. I looked at it and there must have been 20 deer that were in the 140's. I hunted up in and around that county and have been to that big buck contest and have never seen that many truly big deer. I agree Crawford is a county that always had good deer, but now it is amazing the quality and quantity of large bucks being produced.
Another example in the mountains of Forest County. My dads friend is a taxidermist. He sent me a pic of a buck killed up there last year. Was a wide ten that would score close to 160". Guy that killed it said there was another buck with him that was bigger. This is a county where the joke was always about a Forest County 11 point being a spike. Were big deer killed up there in the past...yes, but very, very, very few. Ive seen a couple bucks like the one mentioned above killed just in the last couple years up there. I personally saw a rub two years ago when I was home visiting a friend, and it was as big as my thigh.
PA has good genetics, but now they are getting a chance to grow. When I was a kid, my first year hunting was in 81. I saw well over 100 deer the first day of buck season.....but not 1 buck in all of that.
Did they kill too many does in parts of PA during the last decade...yes in parts they did, but not every where. Are there parts of the state with very few deer....yes there are, but they will come back. Hunters are not flocking to the mountains anymore so pressure is down and they will come back.
Thats my 2cents and worth about what you paid for it.
