Quote Originally Posted by yobuck View Post
As for the deer hunting comparison, I lived and hunted in a state for 64 years that was and still is among the top 3 states in the country for license sales. Opening day of buck season was an unofficial holiday across the state. All schools, statewide, were closed for 3 days when I went to school.
I still travel the 1200 miles each way every year and buy a non res license to hunt there. A major reason is that Pa has over 5 million acres of open public land to walk around on without asking permission. And in the region ive always hunted there are steep ridges, which relate well to the type hunting we prefer. But I hear exactly the same arguments coming from people there. 40 years ago you could ride around on a rainy day on the many many miles of back country dirt roads and count 100 deer with no problem. Today you might ride the whole day and see none.
There are also antler restrictions in place now which have mixed reactions among different groups.
For the 72 seasons ive now been hunting, our camp is and has always been bucks only. I have been told many times over those many years that we just cant shoot them off during the short seasons we have. But you know what? they did, at least in certain areas they did, especially where it was easier hunting. Pickup trucks piled high with doe, shot by groups of hunters driving them from patches of woods to waiting standers. Guys with Rem 760 pumps and special 10 round magazines would commonly shoot far more than the one deer they were entitled to. But they all got tagged by somebody in the group. And today these are the type guys moaning the loudest over the game commission mishandling of the deer management. As for those managers, at least imop, they are government workers not unlike other government workers in most respects. How long till I can (fully) retire and collect the bennys.
I grew up deer hunting in Indiana, which is a different ballgame than here in Florida for sure. Indiana allows up to 10 does (depending on your county) and 1 buck to be harvested per year. The deer hunting is fantastic.

I was curious about your statements so I did some research, Penn State seems to have a different belief regarding the deer herd status in PA. As you pointed out though, isolated areas may experience differences compared to statewide statistics so what you have experienced might not extrapolate across the state. White-Tailed Deer

Without digging too far deep into it, most current science supports sustainable doe harvest as the best way to manage deer herds. Breaking tradition and "this is how we've always done it" mentality is near impossible though.