Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Unsuccessful PA rifle season

Pa archery license sales from 2009 till 2019....those numbers pale in comparison to when Pa gave a preferential early archery season. Back in the day when Fred Bear traditional bows were the norm. 😉

Bow hunting went thru the roof when compounds came on the scene...and has been growing yearly since..

Why? Because compounds were easier to master compared to traditional bows...same applies to crossbows..



Resident Archery 274,583 277,602 285,549 297,031 312,045 319,850 326,870 327,674 324,877 320,468 325,461
Nonresident Archery 11,814 11,812 12,243 12,283 12,996 13,151 13,604 13.963 14,723 15,264 16,386

And yet, if I want a chance at a buck with blackpowder,
I have to use a flintlock or hunt rifle season.
Hell until about 2004 we had to use roundballs.

Again, this is disputed, but in my experience they are
poor killers. Not always quick to kill, and often leave poor trails.
Numerous DRT, but also have had a number that we would have never even
found the blood without snow.

Meanwhile, archery had compounds that evolved from 100 some fps to
300 fps. All kind of sights, releases, arrow tech, expanding broadheads...
The only thing denied was pods, and devices that held the bow at
full draw and released with a trigger. In effect, a crossbow conversion.

I'm not opposed to archery in general.


I have a beef with archers.
Not every single one, but as a group they are the worst at trespassing
and illegal kills. Along with turkey hunters, but often it the same people.
Even in gun season, if I catch a trespasses, it's usually
someone that bow hunts.

There you have it. Half of the deer equals no deer? There's a magic boundary that keeps you limited to hunting inside of zone 4a? I'm sure id run out of tags in 4a too. Pretty sure we just processed a few does from 4a in my friends shop last week. They must have been the last ones in the whole zone.....as far as huntingpa, I can't stand those morons more than any other sane person can.

I have a beef with archers.
Not every single one, but as a group they are the worst at trespassing
and illegal kills. Along with turkey hunters, but often it the same people.
Even in gun season, if I catch a trespasses, it's usually
someone that bow hunts


I agree with this 100 percent

The archers have your answer....you need a lobbyist from the Black Powder industry..someone to place big adds in the magazine, someone to make some donations to GC habitat development...someone to tickle the back pocket of the honorable colleagues in Harrisburg..

That’s how the archery crowd put their rules in.

By the way, I donate every year to the GC and buy a archery tag I don’t use. Maybe will someday, but will freely admit the GC is KMA.

Archery gains were made by members of PA-based hunting orgs, like PSAA and UBP, showing up year after year and lobbying in person for longer seasons.

The "money lobby" people were from the cross bow industry, Professional reps showing up well prepared for a few years and pushing for full cross bow inclusion. That included a few well known outdoor writers, as well. I know this from actually being there in person and observing this over many years.

"Say it ain't so, Joe."

(Think they may have also did a little "wine and dining" of the honorable colleagues?)

Nothing preferential there...Na

Addition: And now it is the norm....now the archery tag numbers keep increasing....now the number of Bucks and Does killed by archers keep going up...But now, some will tell us it is insignificant with regards the Deer available to the rifle hunters....Like I said before...I know Bullshiit when I see it....

Resident hunting license sales in Pa 2019....860,000.....approximately 25%...just did the math....actually 37.7%....of which were archery tags......insignificant some would tell us...

When you dig insignificance takes on a different meaning.

https://lancasteronline.com/sports/...4f9bf4a-ba75-11e8-bcaf-8b4d704746d0.html

Fill your tags? You may, or you may not. Only way to know, or to make us believers is hunt 4A for a few yrs. So bring your smarmy ass on over and take the challenge. You'll never know how it is without trying. That's my point...
From my perspective PA deer hunting has sucked for some time. The pgc cashed in on the doe herd yrs ago, and they now sell 3 times as many doe tags as we have deer on the hoof. I also have my doubts that we have bigger bucks than we used to. The now closer buck doe ratio, antler restrictions, and longer archery seasons all contribute to more bigger bucks taken perhaps. I've seen big bucks around here all my life... Alt surely didn't make it happen here.... before he was run out of the state.

You are casting a very wide net with those assumptions. One should endeavor to research and use facts not assumptions before drawing conclusions. Just saying. Good hunting.

Spent an evening last night with a Bud and his "Bow Hunting" family....The Daughters, Sons and Sons Wives hunt....They are immersed in it and Whitetails...Have their own little piece of land that is a labor of love, and shoot some impressive Bucks off of it. When they go to camp, they sneak into it. Trucks pull in at a slow idle. No noise, make as little disturbance as possible. Close the door and sneak out to the stands in the morning.

DIY hunts out West...Shoot big Whitetails on an Illinois farm. Crossfit to stay in shape and they are. Dinner was Deer cooked on a Trager smoker and it was exceptional.

Learned about the Total Archery Challenge, hinge release, back pressure release...Their garage is like a small bow shop...hunting bows, target bows,

If I wanted to learn, I have what would practically be pro level teachers...Their enthusiasm is off the wall....

They clued me in on a place to find some interesting info on Deer movement...This would be one example...


https://www.deer.psu.edu/the-life-and-times-of-buck-8917/

You might like this one also?

https://www.deer.psu.edu/category/the-deer-forest-blog/

Thanks they clued me in on it also....

Another thing,they make their own scrapes.....they start them and the Deer finish it....The cam videos of the Deer using them is more than interesting.....

Ihunt with the archery season. I use a crossbow too. The reason is my eyes. I can't see clearly enough to use the sights on my compound. I really enjoy that time of the year in the woods. Be that as it may, I'm going to do more squirrel hunting than archery in the future. I've spent some long mornings and evenings without seeing deer. Not complaining, but I miss squirrel hunting, and I really like to eat them

2F Warren County I own 57acres bordering ANF... Some camps were in but didn't seem like very many. I never drove the road to see how many other camps were in.

I killed an 8 in archery . my boy hit a 9 in archery and killed a doe in archery. My nephew killed a doe in archery.

One weird phenomenon. Every legal buck on my place disappeared Nov 16th. Im running 9 cameras on the land and I mean they vanished.

Dad hunted the same spot on ANF he killed his 10pt in 2019. Saw 1 buck in 3 and a half days of hunting.. 0 doe and 4 hunters.

One of my boys works alot and managed a few short hunts he saw a few does on the property.. 0 bucks

I shot a dmap doe right off the back edge of our place on ANF. I spent a lot of time with my nephew who's 14. We saw does. He never saw a buck im guessing his deer count in 4 days of rifle was around 18.

My other boy hunted about 5 or 6 days of rifle. He saw probably 40 or 50 deer. No bucks.

We did find a dead spike someone shot and left.

We also hunt 1b. Il killed a doe there.

And on the north side of 2f in Scandia we killed 4 does between 5 of us the last Friday. Lots of private land, I setup the shooters and walked around. Had deer running everywhere. 1 was a buck but the kid that saw it shot his buck 7pt the first week of rifle. But in that property its common to see 25 deer in a field at once in archery. It can handle some does coming out.

Total between all the areas we hunt we killed 9. But we hit 3 different areas in the county.

Not much shooting in rifle season. I think the majority of hunters tag out in archery. Guys don't walk much or still hunt much anymore either. I heard lots of reports of lots of guys sitting close to forestry roads. On 1 road we hunt we could see 4 guys from the road in lead than 3/8 of a mile.

Deer seasons are a management tool. Within the management plan, the goal is to provide as many recreation hours as possible consistent with achieving the management objectives. Your archery season is what, four times as long as the rifle season, yet they kill only a third of the deer harvested. That alone makes it obvious that archery in all its forms is much harder to be successful with than any form of gun hunting. If you eliminate the special season, archery will cease to be a practical harvest tool, and the archers, and their license dollars will go elsewhere. Are you willing to make up the difference?

The archery season is open to anyone that cares to participate, just like the rifle season, and the game belongs to everyone, not just one group. You apparently just want it all your way and fugg everyone else. Well guess what, you ain’t gonna get it, so enjoy your pity party.

I have a beef with archers.
Not every single one, but as a group they are the worst at trespassing
and illegal kills. Along with turkey hunters, but often it the same people.
Even in gun season, if I catch a trespasses, it's usually
someone that bow hunts.

Old info but the farm I hunted in Adams County back in the 80s and 90s was divided by Marsh Creek. Small groups of drivers used to unload standers on one side, down by the covered bridge, then the drivers would start from Red Rock Road and push through (the farmhouse was on the other side of the creek. We caught them one time and made them climb a fence and leave through a pasture to one side. They kicked up a doe on their way out and opened up like D-Day right into that pasture full of Black Angus. Miracle that no cattle were hit.

Another time I was sitting in my stand near the creek, opening day no less, when some dickhead came waltzing along the bank. He ignored my whistle, so I climbed down and intercepted him. He claimed that he had the right to follow the creek, hunting along the way of course, but changed his tune when I told him I was going to call the sheriff and let him decide. Back he went, the way he came.

Then there was the guy who just stopped his car and popped a doe out in the field. We drove over and caught him about to drag it away. He said he just couldn’t help himself. He ran him off, dressed the deer, and called the warden.

Never caught any archers, or found any mystery stands, but someone did come in by crossing the creek and stole a ladder stand.

Now that the covered bridge is a tourist attraction of sorts, there’s a lot of parking there for trespassers’ convenience.

If you could comprehend the article on archery hunting numbers and success,,,you would understand that archers every year are accounting for a larger percentage of the Deer kill.....Which obviously escapes you...Be that as it may, when does one make adjustments to your management plan...

As far as eliminating the special season....again you are making up as you go along....Bad habit, but we know how you work....Never said to eliminate it..did say that perhaps we could switch opportunities some time so that the rifle guys get the peak rut and nice weather..But then again you would have to take your bow out and sit on your stump in the cold perhaps...Poor boy....And many of those Deer that you get your "preferential" first chance at would be gone....Oh my, can't have that now can we.....

Yes the game does belong to everyone....Which seems it would imply making sure all get an equal crack at it during the best hunting times......

And until now I have ignored one of your comments on doing it myself and seeing how easy it is....Already did that....two years in a row, and was successful both years...Wasn't that hard....In fact, sat in the tree, hardly expending any energy climbing hills and still hunting...Just sat there and when one eventually walked by shot it....Exciting for a moment, but not all that hard....

You sure you got it covered with only 9?

Everybody lobbies for this season and that. Once they get their season then they fight to have them lengthened. The only change I would campaign for is Semi Auto inclusion for big game