Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting PA HUNTERS HOW GOES IT SO FAR???

Yeah, but QDM don't work down here either... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Can think of a few honey holes around the NRV that get me pretty horned up on Virginia deer hunting.

Love that place....

I can think of a few places in central VA, that'd blow your mind...

It seemed like when we discussed Pa. and QDM last year there was a lot more support for the program, but now it seems like more of us agree that too many does have been culled from the herd. I haven't been back out east in a couple years now, but my brother and other friends have kept me well posted on what the hunting's been like. I agree the buck/doe ratio was way out of whack. We'd frequently see 35 deer the first day and might see one spike out of that. I sincerely hope that this evens out soon, but it's no fun to sit in the woods for a week and never see a deer. Personally I could care less if I shoot a spike, or a rack-you can't eat horns anyway. I don't think I could shoot a doe right now and feel comfortable about it. This herd's been thinned out too much. It just may be up to the hunters to fix it by passing up some does. Mr. Alt and the politicians don't seem to have the b*lls to admit they made a mistake and do something to fix it.

It will even it.

VA went through the same thing, as I am sure other states did as well.

In my area - Bedford County, most of the timber that has been clear cut is on State Forest Lands & State Game Lands. Unfortunately, someone has decided that the "over population" of deer are responsible for the slow regeneration of the clear cut areas. Its a shame that timber revenue has trumped hunter revenue. Bastids!

PA Game Commision sold a bill of goods to PA hunters called AR (Antler Restrictions) and HR ( Herd Reduction ). Herd reduction worked to well as more does are being killed as bucks that were previously legal under the old system are no longer on the table (no pun intended). Therefore, hunters are killing more does. I like AR BUT HR has gone too far!!!

Gee. After the whiz kid, Larry Alt spread his brand of game management around I'd expect B&C 170's hanging from every meat pole in PA.

Sadly, his horsesh!t style of management has spread to Westbuhgawd. The annual buck kill continues to fall. Trophy bucks are few and far between.

Looking for a good deer hunt ? Avoid Westbuhgawd as well.

They are spreading the same B.S. here.

I haven't seen a buck yet, and I've hunted all 4 days so far.
Day one: 6 does plus 2 unidentified.
Day Two: Zero.
Day Three: 2 unidentified.
Day Four: 5 does.

In all, a total of 15 deer, and no bucks. Also, there is very little shooting. I think there are plenty of deer, based on the sign I'm seeing. Today I saw 3 scrapes that were recently freshened.

I think the weather, at around 60 degrees, is way too warm for deer wearing their winter coats. They are holed up and won't move unless someone bumps them. And the leaves are too crunchy to walk up on them. Once we have a weather change (tomorrow 30 mph winds and heavy rain forecasted, then snow Saturday) things should get better. Stay tuned.

There are some big bucks being killed, and the gual of AR -- to produce an older age class of bucks -- is working. Is HR working too well? Maybe.

By the way, I don't think the PGC is running a QDM program. I don't think QDM can be run on a statewide scale. Some aspects of QDM are in the mix -- such as a means of passing up yearling bucks -- but true QDM passes up 2� year olds too. The great masses of hunters could never be managed for QDM -- and we all know game management is at least 50% hunter management.

Steve

Many states are trying to reduce their deer herds, and have been doing so for years. That is why they have multiple management areas instead of just one season/limit for the whole state. Anyway, in my opinion this herd reduction has nothing to do with hunting. The game commissions and DNRs are pressured by human/deer conflicts such as forest regeneration, auto accidents, Lyme disease, and crop damage.

An update from our hunting group. I spoke to my brother last night-he just came back from camp. (Camp's in Clearfied County on Boone Mountain between Sabula and Penfield.) He saw 17 deer the first day, which is by far the most he's seen on opening day in several years. One small buck-not legal. He hunted all day Monday through Wednesday, and saw 5 more does on Tuesday, none on Wednesday. He said the shooting was very light, and outside of a few Pa. residents filling doe tags, he never saw or heard of a buck harvested from any of the area camps. They're just not seeing the bucks. So my question is, where are they? By now it seems like if this plan is plausible, they ought to be seeing more legal bucks. I've sarcasticly poked holes at this plan, saying everyone should be seeing herds of legal bucks, but the truth of the matter is, at least in our area, they're just not showing up on the game poles. It's bad enough they're shooting off all the does, but it doesn't look like it's doing much to grow bucks. Maybe it's just an issue in our area, I don't really know, but where's the bucks?

Don't forget guys, just because there are more, older bucks doesn't mean they are stupid. They are still mature whitetails. They aren't just standing out in the fields waiting to get shot like they show on the Outdoor Channel!
You have to adapt too!
Last year during bear season, I saw more bucks per day in the ANF then I'd ever seen in 28 years. One was a beautiful 10 point with a 18-20 inch spread and tall tines. Not your traditional "Mountain Buck" from the old days!
Also, don't feed me that line of crap about not being able to eat the antlers. This years buck was in excess of 225 lbs! If you just wanted meat, you'ld have to shoot two young one's to match that.

That would be "Gary Alt", and after attending numerous speaking events of his, I never remember hearing him promise that. You have to realize, he made recommendations to the Game Commission based on scientific data. The com then makes the rules, and they don't neccesarily follow the recommendations.

Also, CWD.

Slow season here. On opening day only one hunter got a deer, a smallish 8pt. On Tuesday, I got nice 8pt. Both bucks look like they were still in the rut as they still had swollen necks. Anyone else notice this? Hunt up in Venago county.

Leo,

I've heard a bunch of guys say the same thing.

Kevin,

Good to know. Isn't the rut usually over early November?


Leo

Generally slowing down before Thanksgiving'ish.
Things seemed late last year too. I wasn't seeing major scrapes until the second week of November.

It's that damn Larry Alt screwing things up again! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

On a side note: I found a local guy that does Lake Erie chartering, and was thinking about putting together a little 24 Hour Campfire walleye / perch trip for next year.
Probably be 6 guys.

I'll keep you posted.

Got out 2 full days and 2 afternoons so far this season. Deer seem be feeding at night mostly with all this warm weather and holding tight to the thick stuff during the day. I have seen lotsa guys fillin the doe tags early in the week. Not many bucks, but the couple I have seen or guys brought pictures in at work were nice. Hopefully with the colder weather comin I will have more luck. If not there is always the great flintlock season around the corner. My personal favorite, cold, lotsa snow, woods to yourself, and the big bucks are movin.