Comments for the Pennsylvania Game Commission
Last Updated: 12/30/2006 07:29:34 AM
Most recent comments near the bottom of page
I would suggest the Game Commission to stop handing out so many doe permits because there aren’t even enough deer in the state to fill them all.
I mean this 1.6 million deer in pa crap. yeah 1.2 million are below I-78.
I think it would be a great idea to limit doe season back down to a 3 day hunt. Too many does are getting killed, and when one doe is killed it's basically like killing 3 deer. This is by far the worst hunting season I have ever taken part in, it upsets me so much after if sit in the woods for 5-6 day's and don't see one deer.
Get the deer back into the Pennsylvania forests. Increase the food in the areas and reduce the number of doe being killed in those areas.
1st: Fire Gary Alt, antler restrictions, and killing off all of the doe's was a very bad idea.
a.) Work to get bow hunting allowed in more urban areas and state and federal parks. b.) Get everyone to stop whining if they don't shoot a deer within an hour the first day of rifle season. c.) Keep up their effort to get people to st
Although I'm a meat hunter, I'm not completely opposed to the antler restrictions. With the ability to fill the tag with a doe in the late seasons, failing to take a buck is not devastating. I would actually suggest that requiring four
Although I've seen the least amount of deer that I've ever seen, I still had great hunting. Shot the biggest buck in 35 years and seen plenty of bucks this season. I hunted every day of the bow season but 3 and every day of the rifle season but 2. I hate herd reduction, but I'm fully aware of the reasons we need herd reduction and support the program fully. I know HR will insure that future generations of deer and deer hunters will have great habitat to look forward to in years to come thanks to the sacrifices that todays hunters are making.
Antler restrictions are excellent.
Too many doe are being harvested. Cut the doe season and cut back on the doe license allocations(drastically).
Buck and doe season are fine together, but the doe should only be hunted during the first week and the point system of the bucks should be 2 points and greater. I agree on letting the spikes go, but hunting all of the large bucks only d
Bucks are bigger, as a group we seen a lot of nice racks. I hunted in Warren County for the first 5 days. After the first day none of the five people at camp seen any deer. We hunted all week. It was Saturday morning that I finally got t
Change buck season back to the way it was
Cut back on does tags in certain areas immediately. leave A/R in place I think it will improve the herd tremendously. I think that the herd in general has taken a severe blow and needs time to replenish itself. I understand that certain areas have more deer and need to be cut back but some areas are tremendously over hunted. The 1,000 acres around my home which is private allows anyone to hunt. I know the majority of the men that hunt this area. They are very disgusted with this year. A total of 5 deer were killed out of this farm. I watch deer all summer and rarely saw a deer in areas that in times past I usually see several a week. I refused to hunt this last year even though I bought tags and license.
Cut back on the doe tags
Cut the number of doe permits and do not start the doe season until the first Saturday of the rifle
Decrease the doe tags Statewide,Even the special regs areas were there are SGL's near by is terrible. Like 5c around SGL 52 in 5b they stink
Decrease the number of doe hunting permits. The number of deer in Pennsylvania is decreasing rapidly. Management by elimination is simply not a viable option!
Decrease the number of Doe License. Very few deer this year, however an increase in number of bucks, which is positive.
Decrease the number of does being shot in certain zones
DO AWAY WITH ANTLER RESTRICTION--I FEEL THIS IS NOT RESPECT FOR THE DEER IF YOU ARE HUNTING JUST FOR ANTLERS--A SPIKE IN MY OPINION IS JUST AS MUCH OF A TROPHY AS AN 8 POINT--I FEEL ALT WILL GET ALL THE CREDIT FOR TROPHY BUCKS IN PA NOT BECAUSE OF AR BUT BECAUSE LESS HUNTERS ARE HUNTING FOR DEER BECAUSE THEY ARE FED UP ON NOT SEEING DEER. LESS HUNTERS MEAN MORE LEFT OVER BUCKS FOR THE NEXT YEAR BECAUSE HUNTERS AREN'T HUNTING. LESS ALLOCATIONS FOR DOE IN PERRY COUNTY.
Do away with some of the smaller deer seasons and shorten them ( jr. sr.-bow-flintlock etc.)
Do away with the antler restrictions.
Do not let the auto insurance tell them what to do and lower the # of doe permits
Drastically decrease the doe allocations and get rid of the unmanageable DMU's. Get rid of the politician’s and get back to people who care about our resources and not their personal agendas
Find away to open up more land for the hunters to much land is posted and that is where the majority oifof the deer hide
Fire Gary Alt
First and foremost, quit letting DCNR manage the deer herd for them. Reduce the number of doe tags, especially in the northern tier to one tag per hunter.
First of all, my bow season was horrible. I could have shot two does and a spike. I only saw one other deer. As for gun season, I could have shot a few does while we were pushing some deer on the first Saturday but other than that, I may have been able to shoot one doe while on stand. There is a ton of deer sign, so where are the deer? My conclusion is that with fewer does, the bucks traveled more and made more rubs than in the past. We had 4" - 6" trees rubbed all over our property (140 acres) but no one saw (9 hunters) even a buck. The surrounding properties only shot one maybe two 8 points or bigger. And I heard of no 6pts being shot around us. A camp up the road from us had 16+ hunters and only shot one buck in two weeks of hunting.
First, fire Gary Alt. Second, schedule a series of bull sessions with sportsmen across the state and listen to their opinions, then go back to Harrisburg and develop a program that reflects the views iof the sportsmen whose license dollars have paid for our treasured Game Lands and have also paid for your salaries, etc.
First, I want to say that I am not the type of hunter who travels 100 yards out of the Game Lands parking lot. I usually show up in the parking lot at 4:00 in the morning and walk for an hour and a half to the top of the ridge. I have harvested a deer or two a season for the last 15 years. I hunt very hard, but have seen very few deer in archery, and had no opportunities in rifle this season. Please don't take this the wrong way. Overall, I think the Game Commission does a good job, and I trust that they have more information on deer numbers than myself. With that said however, I am at a loss as to how the Game Commission can say that there are more deer than ever, yet I see fewer and fewer deer each season. I have gone from seeing herds of 10 and 20 deer to feeling lucky to see two or three in a day's hunt. Suggestions to improve the quality of deer hunting....
FORCE LANDOWNERS TO ALLOW DEER HUNTING ON POSTED PROPERTY TO HELP CONTROL THE DEER
Gary Alt is on the right track.."limit kill to Bucks with 4 point per-side". We saw 3, got 1, quality bucks in an area that otherwise produced only scrubs! Gary's doing it right!!
Get rid of antler point restrictions. Go to shotgun only in populated counties. Reduce the number of doe tags on public land. Listen to real biologists (not propaganda from the Game Commission)when they say acid rain, not deer are responsible for lack of regeneration of selected hardwood species. Have short hunter opinion survey of controversial issues mandatory when purchasing license. This would give accurate data, not biased data pushed by proponents of "quality deer management". Got to computerized licensing system. Quit changing regulations that make hunting confusing and frustrating. People hunt to relax and forget their troubles. When they experience more frustration while hunting, they will pursue less stressful recreational activities or do like I do, hunt out of state.
Get rid of the "red Tags" for farmers. I know a guy that qualifies for up to 62 tags, yet lets his corn stand through the winter. If he harvested it in a timely fashion, the deer damage would be less.
Get rid of the current Deer Density Target Goals!! I am all for herd reduction but target goals from 5-14 deer per square mile isn’t proper deer management. Just look at OH. One of the healthiest herds and habitat in the entire country, they manage their herd at 25 deer per square mile. MI. manages their herd at 28.9 deer per square mile. Our current target goals having nothing to do with Deer management.
Give out less doe tags & cut doe season back to 3 days.Only allow 1 doe per hunter for a few years.
Go back to a separate three day anterless season. Cut back on anterless permits .Leave everything else in place.
GO BACK TO DOE SEASONS SEPERATE AND 3 DAY ONLY, DO AWAY WITH THE EARLY M.L LOADING . ANTLERLESS SEASON.
Go back to the one buck tag, one doe tag a year rule and make doe season 3 days again. And could also cut out the doe season for a year or 2 in a lot of areas to help restore the herd.
Greatly reduce the number of antlerless tags for a couple of years. Go back to a 3 day doe season.
I believe that the PA Game Commission should shorten the length of the antlerless season. Far to many doe are being harvested along with button bucks.
I can except the current antler restrictions as they are.The wholesale slaughter of our herd thru multiple doe tags and expanded antlerless seasons is unexcusable.The herd is still not being reduced where it truly needs to be,just everywhere else.The herd has become decimated in many areas all over the state while they issue more and more tags.I have lost ALL respect for this game commission of ours!!
I have hunted for 24 years. I hunt just about everything you can hunt in Pennsylvania. When I started hunting in the early 80s , I feel the game animals were very abundant. But as I get older things have gotten bad. I think as the
penna. Game commission raised the number of doe tags in the mid 90s deer population started down . The 2 weeks of doe season again will be the worst that could happen. It was bad this year and I except not much next season.
I would like to see the Game Commission open Sunday hunting during archery and have the archery season run until the first day of rifle season. By doing so, that would give Pennsylvania hunters a chance to hunt the prime rutting period and would extend the season almost a full month. If you look at the harvest reports from archery season. A good amount of deer are harvested.By doing this and taking away a week of (IF IT'S BROWN IT'S DOWN). That should keep the deer population at close to where it should be. Thanks,Dave Sullivan
I would like to see the PGC be more honest with hunters. For the past few years they've been telling us the population of deer is growing while the population of hunters are saying otherwise. The absolute slaughter of our doe herd is becoming a bit much for many hunters to swallow. I agree with antler restrictions, but the herd reductions that the PGC wants(and issues the tags for) is growing out of control.
I would make the new DMUs into much smaller areas. I would decrease or stop the deer hunting in the north Central and central Pa regions and increase it in the regions around the cities,EG phila York Pittsburgh,Poconos etc. I would fire Gary Alt and most of the administration of the PGC and hire more qualified sportspeople instead of the political morons that are running it now.
I would suggest more accurate deer numbers per management area.......This would allow more deer taken in the areas that are under harvested and and reduce the numbers in areas deer are on the decline
If AR is continued make it for everyone regardless of age.
If you extend doe seasons in Pa it wipes out deer herds means fewer fawns that a doe has because you killed that doe during previous doe seasons don't extend doe season and get rid of 4 point regulation and so little places to hunt
Improve the quality of State Game Lands. Plant food plots that the deer actually will eat and will regenerate themselves year after year. Tell the timber companies to do the same and the deer won't eat all of the seedling trees.Allow Sunday hunting so that our time strapped youth and people who work six days a week have time to hunt.Pass the same trespassing law as the state of Ohio which states you must have written permission to hunt on private land. Stop deer spotlighting Sept.-April. I could go on and on but this is probably not going to read by anyone anyway.
In my opinion too many doe's short during the season turn out to be button bucks. I wonder if the Pa Game Commission keeps records on that. The big problem not being addressed by the Game Commission is that private property owners do not give access to hunters, but always complain that their are to many deer destroying their property. These areas need to be accessed by hunters.
Institute a management program with smaller management units. The Pa Game Commission needs to take lessons in wildlife management from the conservation programs out west. Seeing (3) deer in (4) days of hunting in Clinton County (in a burn area that is loaded with new plant life) is very bad. A conservation officer told me that maybe I’m not hunting hard enough. Maybe he should get out of his chair and join me!
LET PEOPLE HUNT ON SUNDAYS. IT REDICULUS THAT WE CAN'T HUNT ON SUNDAYS. WHAT DO WE DO IF WE HAVE TO WORK?????
Longer deer seasons an be able to shoot any size buck
Make junior hunters abide by the point restrictions.
More attention needs to be paid to public hunting lands because they are being over hunted.
Need to do away with hunting season for one or two years
Need to do away with hunting season for one or two years. So the herd can build up.. Plus get the younger bucks to mature
: Need to rethink the whole deer management plan.Too many doe are being killed in areas where the deer populations are way below carrying capacity,while not enough are killed where they are a problem.The wmu's are too big to allow targeted effort.People hunt where they can(allowed),not where the deer might happen to be.
No doe hunting
No more 2 week doe season. Only one doe tag allowed-no bonus tags.
None, Follow Dr. Alt directions!
Not applicable
Not lie about numbers of deer in the state. No one I speak to see's a fraction of the number of deer we used to see on private or public land. In 11 full days of hunting in 2 years including archery I saw a total of 5 deer. In 1985 when I began hunting we have records of seeing 25 or more deer per day. Now a successful trip is to see any deer while in the woods!!! Yet we are told we have record number of deer in the state. How dumb are we??
Not so much just deer hunting,but for all types of hunting I wish the PGC would consider Sunday hunting. Many hunters are average hard working folks whose only day off is Sunday and we just can't afford to take a day off to spend in the field. I personally split my vacation time between 1 week during PA's rifle deer season and 1 week salmon fishing in upstate NY. This leaves me only a couple of paid days off remaining. It would be nice to be able to go a field on a Sunday and not lose a days pay.Sincerest thanks!
Pa. Game Commission was accused of artificially maintaining the number of deer to provide maximum targets. Do to their inability to deal with that, they bowed to the anti hunters, insurance, and timber industry. Thanks Gary Alt, your single hand destroyed our heritage of over a hundred years.
Protect/increase habitat; post advisories that are location specific ("take a Doe"/"Don't take a Doe" areas); abandon concurrent seasons for Doe/Buck, get politicians' snouts out of Game Commission business.
Put a moratorium on Doe hunting in this area and separate Doe and Buck season
Put hunting back to the way it was
Quit putting out predators just to make the insurance company’s happy!
Reduce the size of the management zones. Don't blanket such large areas with generalizations.
Sell doe tags that can only be used in certain places. In other words, if you want to shoot a doe on public land, you must have a public tag. You would need a private land tag to kill a private land deer. This would address the in balance between the numbers of deer on public vs private land.
Separate buck and doe season. Reduce the number of doe tags sold in units 1A and 2F
Should be the way it was 10 years ago
Somehow try to create a mentality among hunters to pass on fawns ,especially button bucks. A huge number of deer never get to the point where they could even be an illegal buck. Make hunters aware that killing a button buck or doe fawn is nothing to be proud of.
Stop agreeing to every demand that the PA DCNR and Rendell's stakeholder group makes concerning killing more deer and reducing the herd further.
Stop all the special deer seasons, end doe hunting on public lands
STOP DOE HUNTING IN CERTAIN REGIONS,COUNTIES. tHERE TAKING A BEATING REALLY BAD IN SCHUYLKILL COUNTY.
Stop doe season for a few years
STOP KLILLING ALL THE DOE!!!! INCREASE THE HABITAT ie BROWSE, FOOD PLOTS,
Stop the needless slaughter of DOE!
Stop the slotter of our antlerless deer population
Sunday hunting
Sunday hunting come on please
Sunday hunting is a most. I can't believe we are one of the few states that do not allow. Sunday hunting. Most people have most available time to hunt on Saturdays and Sundays.
Sunday hunting...cross bow and inline gun hunting
Surveys on doe population per county to better increase the management of the herd. Even with the antler restrictions the buck to doe ratio is still way off in some counties. The count I hunt in (Bedford) especially.
Take away the antler restrictions!
The current situation is terrible. Doe season should be a separate three-day season. Also it should go back to being managed by county. If this does not change there will be no deer left on public ground. I have been hunting deer for 38 years and I am a very seasoned hunter. Hunters paid for game commission ground not Mike DiBberardinis and the
DCNR.
The deer herd in Clinton County were I hunt is being decimated. The antler restriction is working I am seeing bigger bucks. There are too many does being shot. I think that you should stop Doe Hunting for at least two years in Clinton County. Let the hunters tell you when they are seeing too many deer. And tell the Forestry dept to stop putting the pressure on the deer herd.
The problem of endangered oak forest may be solved by: heavily harvest timber one county at a time. Severely deplete the deer population for 4 years (only in that county) until the oaks are to old to be damaged by browsing. The next year rotate counties until eventually it will be the same system you have now except much larger plots. Remember the deer will only damage oaks until a certain age.
To have more public lands
Yes!
You cannot continue, in my opinion, the 2 week concurrent buck and doe kill. Sooner or later, we will not see any more deer, thus causing some hunters to give up and find another hobby. I believe smaller, less aggressive measures should be taken towards balancing the deer herd. Perhaps the second week of buck would provide a nice doe harvest, but two weeks is a bit long for doe season, or 'doe day' as it once was. If I wanted to see 4 deer in a week of hard hunting, I’d go to Maine
You should allow hunting on a Sunday I work so its so hard during the week I only have Saturdays Sundays would be great if you have to have 1 day no hunting do it on a Monday.
1) I like the antler restrictions but think that too many doe licenses are being given out. I know that there are many areas with deer overcrowding problems, but that is not the case on game lands. The problem is mainly in confined to residential and private areas where the extra doe tags are not doing what they were intended. In effect, they are wiping out the herds on the game lands while allowing the population to continue to grow in areas where the average hunter cannot gain access.
2. Work hard with private landowners to promote giving hunters permission to access their land. Just archery, rifle, buck, doe, whatever they want. Somehow, we need to be able to get on the lands that have the deer problems if we're ever going to be able to bring the public land hunting back to acceptable levels. Have lotteries, interviews, whatever it takes, but this is something that needs to happen.
2nd: Stop all doe hunting to rebuild the heard to where it was 2 years ago.
3. I hate to say this because I am an archery hunter, but I would like to see crossbows legal so that more people would hunt in archery season. This would allow more hunters to get into areas much more residential. I may not be able to gain permission to hunt in these deer problem areas, but someone from the local community will more than likely be able to gain access from neighbors, etc...
3rd: Go back to a 3 point(total point) minimum restriction
4. Allow Sunday hunting on Private land....This gives non-hunters a safe day to hike, etc..on public lands, while at the same time providing working hunters the opportunity to gain permission from land owners and gain a couple of extra days that can be spent in the field.
5. Allow inlines in the late season. Many people are waiting to purchase crossbows and inlines for fear that they spend $600 on a piece of equipment and will only be permitted to use it for a week out of the year. If the deer herd is going to be continually reduced, I would like to see hunters given more opportunities to get out there and get one.
As far as antler restrictions go,scrap them.Most hunters I have talked with would rather shoot 3 and 4 pointers every year than shoot a 12 point every third year and be skunked the other two.Let the trophy hunters go to Texas and shoot fenced in deer under the automatic deer feeder.(Sorry for the rant)
As for antler restrictions I do think they work and are working. People are seeing and shooting bigger bucks. No doubt about it. If the two areas are inseparable (antler restriction and deer herd management) I am on the fence.
Our deer population has been destroyed due to to many doe tags
issued and a concurrent season with buck. Nice idea but has had horrible
results. Many of the doe taken in Mckean Co. were actually Button Bucks. Hunters
are ticked off and many won't return.
Close doe season for 2005 then. In 2006 only allow a 3 day doe season. Get rid of points restriction.
maintain antler restrictions. reduce the number of days in which to harvest antlerless deer.
Go back to the three day doe season.
The antler restrictions should go back to the old days of 2 or more points to a side for buck hunting. Stop all doe hunting for at least 5 years so the deer can make a comeback before it is to late.
he length of our deer season is not to long just doe season, we should shorten the length of our doe season. They should also consider transporting deer from the areas of over abudance of deer and no place to hunt them, to the state game lands where the hunters are.I would make doe season a seperate season from buck season and it should not be any longer than 5 days.I have been hunting since I was 15 and I am now 42 and I have never taken a buck.3 years ago i shot my first doe during flintlock season.I spend alot of time in the woods and this year was the worst season I have ever hunted.I hunted with 5 friends for 5 days during muzzleloader season and not one of us got a shot.I hunted 4 days so far during flintlock season and my brother and I have not even seen a deer.We hunt around Calidonia area and I cannot believe how terrible this season was,dont tell me we are not hunting a good area because last year there were deer all over the place last year.I have hunted the same mountian for the last 15 to 18 years and I have never seen so few deer.I seen a total of 4 deer during muzzleloader season and I have seen a deer since.THAT IS SAD.The doe population has been slaughtered in the last few years and now "Gary Alt" has done all this damage he decides to retire.He should have to answer for all the destruction he has done to our deer herd.No one and I mean "NO ONE" should be aloud to take more than one doe a year.I know people who had 5 lisences this year (bonus tags).How can we substain a good prductive deer herd with this type of slaughter being aloud by the game commision.When I was 15 I would sit in the woods and see deer in the woods but no buck.Now I am 42 I sit in the woods and see no deer at all.I hunt from a tree stand 30 ft. off the ground,I use deer scents and still no deer.I truly think Gary alt got out because he knows he has ruined the hunting in this state and he knows that if he stay in he will have to answer to alot off pissed off hunters.
To start, put a hold on all doe hunting on public land. Way to many doe have been harvested the past 5 years. Consentrate your efforts on reducing the population problems where they lay, on private properties. You cannot now or in the future attempt to reduce the deer heard by an increased allowance of doe permit sales on a statewide level. Your end result will be what we are experiencing now. A severe overkill on public land and little if any reduction on the private property's.
I would like them to give me a map showing me where all the deer are they claim live in this state. I Hunted hard for 7 days during the 2 week season. Saw only 12 deer...never got a shot. Two years in a row without pulling the trigger. Deer hunting in this state is absolutely pathetic compared to years ago. I have hunted in Venago County for 28 years and shot plenty of deer. Was nothing to see 30-40 deer per day. Always got a buck (albeit most were small). Getting a doe was easy, but that isn't so any more.
Deer hunting can only be improved by allowing the herd to increase back to reasonable numbers. I think the antler restrictions are a good idea, but they need to discontinue doe hunting for a few years. Areas I hunt could do without doe hunting for at least 3 years minimum. I can't believe there is a farmer or insurance company left who can justifiably claim damages by deer.
Try and get a youngster interested in deer hunting when you can't find a deer is impossible. Who wants to spend all day in the woods and not see a deer? The days of old are the only thing that has kept me out there, but unless things change I will take up another activity in which to spend my time and money on. Several people I have hunted with for years have decided to quit. What is the point...might as well save the money and spend it on something worthwhile; they say.
GIVE US MORE DEER!!!
Comments Added: 01/22/05
Cut back on the doe tags available for a few years.
Eliminate doe season until population returns to close to what it was
EXTEND THE RIFLE SEASON TO INCLUDE BEAR SEASON STATE WIDE.
Decrease the number of doe tags, go back to individual counties for allotment of tags, and go back to 3 day doe season and get rid of the antler restrictions. Gary Alt leaving the commission was the best thing that could of happen its just to bad that all that time was wasted on him and his little scheme to destroy the deer herd. I trust the game commission but not Gary Alt and the DCNR.
Cut back on the doe hunting. Make the rifle season for doe the last three days of deer season. There's hardly no deer left on public land. I used to see 10 -20 deer a day during rifle season. This year I saw 2 deer total. Also the people I hunt with are having the same results, and we even drive for deer.
I would like to see the antlerless deer season be segregated from the antlered season and shortened to three days as it was in the past. (It's dangerous out there with the current hunting conditions)
Go back to the way it was in the 70's, & make the antler restriction a fork on one side.
Reduce the amount of doe licenses
I feel that there are way too many deer on private and park land. We cannot manage deer the same for both game lands and private. The game commission needs to realize that it will never have hunting on the private land that we once did. Because of that the farmers have their crops destroyed even if they do hunt just because there is no hunting next to them. We must give game wardens power to give out permits to harvest deer year round in over populated areas so the deer get used.
less antlerless license more time to harvest a deer.
either let us hunt on Sunday for shotgun season or give another week of hunting. Everyone cant take a week off of work.
I feel it is working good. I have seen a lot of deer this year. Just like Dr. Gary Alt said in one interview."If you don't see deer in the area you are at. Move to a different location". I personally found this to be the truth, I moved from my stand, where I didn't see anything for 6 hr.s, the next stand I went to,just a matter of 200yrds. away, and 15 min. in that stand, 8 doe came into me. Time for hunters to become hunters and seek out the deer there looking for. I could say more, but I`ll stop right here.
I think the pgc are the professionals at this, not me. too many hunters are complaining and pretending to have an idea about wildlife mang.... they mostly are clueless and ignorant and only want one thing. to shoot a deer.
I believe they should continue to encourage harvesting adult does and maintain the antler restrictions to allow the harvest of mature bucks and better racks.
Keep antler restrictions. Keep concurrent buck /doe seasons but reduce to 1 week. Less doe permits.
I feel that our hunters should stop hunting the areas that got wiped out of deer for a few years to let the herd try and come back. Go ask permission to hunt posted-private property, this is where you should find a few deer. Not many left on public land. Open State parks, etc to bow-muzzleloader hunting only. Please consider letting that doe walk. That's our future for hunting, especially our offspring!!
Take the Rifle hunters out of decreasing does (95% are 3 day hunters at best) They shot the little ones too.
Let the Deer hunters do the job (Hunters who pursue deer 5 months out of the year) Take heed at MD hunting Regs. Bow hunting (1 buck 1 doe, until recently) the same for Muzzleloader not flintlock) early buck season of 3 days and Rifle 1 buck and 1 doe) take the counties out of the does license business. less does taken means more bucks to shoot. One buck can sire many does as we know the little 4-points do the most breeding. because the little ones are shot (buttom bucks) antler restriction sound good. must have crop coming........
If the PGC is going to make PA a trophy state then there needs to be an opportunity to kill these older bucks, and post rut rifle season isnt it. As we decrease the heard to nothing, there will be less hunters, better for those who hang in there. I hunt in the 4pt rule area, it is an archers dream. Yes Lg bucks seen during the Rut, no where to be seen during rifle. I saw 7 bucks the 1st day of rifle, only 1 legal. We have been seeing an increase in the number of scrubs that we normally killed in the past. How is the PGC going to deal with these, in a true QM program they would be killed. The QM cant work in under hunted uncontrolled posted lands& over hunted public lands. A lot of people really ticked off after the dream year #3 turned out to be a bust as many predicted.
Comments added 05/28/05
I don't think it is right for non-resident hunters to get bonus tags before resident hunters and taxpayers. The same procedure that you folks have for the 1st antlerless tags should also apply to the bonus tags. Several times in recent years out of state hunters we know have gotten bonus tags and resident hunters that I hunt with did not have a chance, having their applications even dropped off in Harrisburg. Seriously! Thank you for your time and consideration.
Respectfully yours, J. Nichols
You should change the antler restriction law just a little. Instead of having to shoot a buck with 3 points on one antler in some places and shoot a 4 point on one antler in others, you should just have a 3 point restriction so it is fair to everyone.
I am from Oklahoma and just moved here last year. I have never saw as many deer on the road hit by cars as I saw in PA. during the rut. I believe that PA needs to open up doe season and make it a two on each side for bucks. I would hate to see doe's with horns and a genetic mess up where does can't reproduce in our deer heard like what happened in Ok. when the state got to many deer and in breading started taking place. Just think about this and don't tear up what you have tried so hard to fix. There is a fine line to deer management and I believe that the state is over doing it a little. Thank you!
More youth hunting and younger hunters participating in youth mentored hunting. A longer hunting season for deer. A second buck tag for hunters who have filled their first tag at a cost of 100.00 dollars that must be purchased before the antlered deer season begins. I would also be happy to sit on an over sight committee.
I have heard complaints about PGC and there are problems in Pa. However, Chester/Montgomery county has an abundance of whitetails I would like to see more Deer harvested from this area even relocated to areas of population decline. Coyote hunting would not hurt either.
Added 06/05/05
CUT DOE LICENSE ALLOCATION SEVERELY IN MOST MANAGEMENT UNITS TILL HERD REBOUNDS. STOP LOOKING FOR DEER BEING THE PROBLEM FOR FOREST REGENERATION. WHAT ABOUT ACID RAIN, FERNS COVERING THE FOREST FLOOR, EVEN NIGHT CRAWLERS ARE A PROBLEM WITH EATING MULCH LAYER (NIGHT CRAWLERS ARE ORIGINALLY FROM ENGLAND), LACK OF TIMBER CUTTING WHICH WOULD ALLOW 1ST GENERATION GROUND COVER, INCREASE COST OF DOE LICENSE 25 OR 30 DOLLARS EACH TO OFFSET DECREASE, INCREASE OVERALL LICENSE FEES SO PROGRAMS DON'T HAVE TO BE CUT (PHEASANT PROGRAM CUTBACK STINKS).
Added 06/18/05
Cut the doe permits in half. 500,000 tops. Publish the actual return on the report cards even if you believe them to be wrong or short. Let us see where the deer are actually being killed.
Added 06/29/05
No doe hunting for 5 yrs
Drastic cuts need to be made in doe tags for the mountainous counties that are comprised of mostly public land. The doe have been hunted way too hard in these counties and are now scarce whether the game commission will admit it or not. A plan needs to be constructed to thin the deer herd out in urban areas of counties where they are over populated. Force private landowners that complain about deer damage to open their land to hunters or get no damage awards. It will take a lot of work to turn it around but if hunters control their urge to shoot three and four deer per season it can recover and become decent hunting once again as it was 15-20 years ago.
Eliminate the DMAP allocations to DCNR, after all, it is our land, the only manage it and I have never said there were too many deer. shorten the deer hunting season, it just runs too long and not only the rifle season. lessen the amount of doe tags and allocate them to a localized system, the DMUs are just too large to be truly effective
Limit the amount of Antlerless licenses. Return to traditional 3 day Antlerless Season. Do not issue D-Map permits to DCNR. Embark on a large scale browse cutting program. Do something about Acid Rain destroying the Oak Reproduction. Introduce new Hardwood Food Trees such as Saw tooth Oak. Do not introduce Sunday Hunting. Never merge PFC and PGC under DCNR. Limit DCNR power over hunting. Study Pa Heritage Tourism Imitative being pushed by DCNR carefully.
Added 07/09/05
Get rid of pa. game commission form united sportsmen clubs hunters have voting rights for future laws governing game laws.
Go back to two weeks of buck and two days of doe and no early muzzle loader season.
Added 08/08/05
Get a valid deer population number. Get valid harvest numbers. Eliminate DMAP. Reduce the number of antlerless tags. Do not have buck and doe season concurrently. Keep the DCNR out of the PGC.
The game commission needs to distinguish between private and public land in its deer management. Its failure to do so has resulted in the near decimation of deer herds on public land.
Well lets see the only thing I can think of is this I would like to have crossbows legalized for use in archery season state wide during archery season. I have had great luck with my Excalibur crossbow I bought in 2004 i hunt in 5c only cause that's all that is allowed near me. I shot 2 does with my crossbow in 2004 and let me tell u I think hunting with a crossbow is just as exciting as hunting with any firearm. thank you.
Leave the doe tag/season system just as it is for my region, we have too many doe. 26 dollars for an additional turkey tag is being greedy, it should be under 10 dollars.
Added 10/22/06
Reduce doe season to three days again. Remember who pays your salary when it comes to decision time. You are allowing to many does to be harvested and it will eventually ruin hunting in PA.
Manage more land (Game lands and State forest) specifically for deer habitat by clear cutting more and putting in more food plots. Stop putting up fences to keep deer out on the state forests.
KEEP the antler restriction! I have killed about 20 bucks in Pennsylvania and have killed my three biggest bucks in the last 4 yrs. I would like to see a few less doe's being killed so that the youngsters don't get so bored in the woods, but I think the game commission is heading in the right direction.
I'd like to see the split season like it used to be and the antler restrictions changed back.
Simple, SUNDAY HUNTING! And go back to the traditional 3 day of doe. Also make the archery season longer.
longer bow season
limit the number of does taken. I feel when I'm in the woods I'm not seeing nearly as much as I did 5 years ago. I believe in the 3 points or more deal that's a great idea and the bucks are growing bigger and bigger. I'd rather see game more than kill them all off, keeps you interested in doing it year after year considering the ever rising cost of license.
Do away with Doe Hunting for at least 1 Yr. Then return having doe Hunting every other year.
go back to the 2 day doe season after buck season. and keep the point restriction on bucks
Added 11/18/06
combine the buck and doe tag into one license and allow the hunter to harvest one deer per year. give the muzzleloaders and junior - senior hunters the week after the archery season ends. Don't put high power guns out there with bow hunters. make antler restrictions 3 points statewide but not for senior license holders. let them enjoy the final years of hunting without worrying about counting points.
cut back the number of antlerless licenses on public land
Stop SUPPORTING PGC by buying doe licenses. Make doe back to 3 days like it was, and change the damn 4 point restriction where I hunt. The food crop is poor in 2B and the racks don't get 8 points or bigger (rarely)
Make all of pa 8 point limit. Also go back to 3 day doe season.
Added 12/03/06
Shorten doe season, or moratorium on doe season for a couple years. Quality of deer is better, quantity has declined.
First of all I think the person that came up with doe season being 2 weeks is a idiot you should have keep it to 3 days the way it was before I have been hunting for 20 years and I think that you people are making changes for the worst not to better the hunting season. This year my 16,19 sons can't believe how bad the hunting is getting in pa you people are sitting in a office making changes that is not helping the young hunters in this state. You should make changes that will help the hunting in this state not hurt hunting which you are doing. We pay money to hunt & I think you are wasting my money for nothing because I'm not getting anything in return for my money. If you want to make changes you should ask the hunters before you do any changes. Also it is ashamed that my kids have lost interest in hunting because of your changes thank you for hurting the hunting season once again. & your restrictions on points is another problem do you know how hard it i!
s to count points from 100 yards away before you shot a deer if you think that it is easy then you should try one time & maybe you will know try it one time get out into the woods and not set behind your desk. I have a camp in Jefferson county this year I saw 6 doe that was it before I would see 50 to 100 deer by 12:oo pm doe & buck. Now I know you will be saying that there was a record kill this year like you always do let me do your job for 1 year & I will turn hunting season around in pa. I know you are not going to read this because I do not agree with your changes but I had to say something. What are we paying you to do Thank You Dave Seaman please e-mail with a response at keyman3@verizon .net I'll be waiting for your response which I will not get.
Limit the dual buck/doe season to those counties that have excess deer. Return to the two week season for buck and 2/3 day season for doe to those counties that have experienced a dramatic drop in population. Remember, the PGC, like any other group of bean counters, can make numbers say anything and they're saying the herd is healthy and large. This just ain't so! Everyone, everyone, yes I mean everyone I talk to says the same thing. What happened to the deer. If they continue on this program, I will not buy a license next year and will boycott the PGC.
Less points for Buck and a shorter season
back to the old way when there were deer. or baiting
Stop the two week doe season in the northern part of the state. I hunt in shotgun only and rifle areas of the state. I think we need to regulate the number of days doe can be shot by WMU'S. In Montgomery county (5g) a doe may be harvested with a gun from the first day of buck clear through to late season. This works in our area b/c of the number of deer vs. number of hunters. However, in northern area of the state various areas need to go back to the old hunting regulations.
cut the doe kills down A LOT!!!!!! but great job with antler restrictions
Separate buck and doe seasons. No spikes or four points to be shot.
Added 12/10/06
A real need to relax the doe kill there are less and less deer every year
Early muzzleloader buck season
Show better game management, I have been hunting for 55 years I hunted all archery and first week and only saw four deer Hunted five different tracks of state forest.
LIMIT THE NUMBER OF DOE TAGS AND DO AWAY WITH THE FIRST INLINE MUZZLELOADER SEASON. ALSO, PUT THE RIFLE SEASON BACK TO THE WAY IT USED TO BE FOR AT LEAST A COUPLE YEARS.
doe seasons needs to be completely abolished for 5 years in order for the population of the deer to grow.
cancel antlerless season for 2 years and or return back to a 3 day antlerless season after the buck season but that's why its called hunting or just greed
SEPARATE BUCK/DOE RIFLE SEASONS
Eliminate the liability of private land owners. Private land owners would be more inclined to allow hunters to hunt there property and not have to worry about being sued for someone else actions. Recently, township land I have hunted for 15 years has become Archery only during the scheduled Archery season only due to insurance reasons, to reduce the liability and cost on the township. Here again if hunters where held accountable for there own actions and not the land owners there would be more areas to hunt and possibly lower insurance rates.
Greatly reduce or eliminate doe hunting in WMU 3B. The deer herd is decimated on the SGLs in Sullivan and surrounding counties-in the deep woods. Also, there is nothing wrong with the habitat. The PGC people need to walk back in the real woods-off the trails. The clear cuts we hunt near are , and have been regenerating very well. Just try walking through them!
Added 12/30/2006
Remove Palone, Schleiden, and Isabella from the PGC. Stop taking marching orders from Audubon and DCNR. Remove DCNR from the PGC Commissioner selection process
Stop slaughtering the does!! And Button Bucks. It is ridiculous to have gone from a 1 deer a year state to 4 or 5 if you get tags. Stop hunting does concurrent until Saturday of Season and shorten season to a few days if that. Allow Sunday Hunting and don't close Archery season until January LIKE OTHER STATES!! Also, stop the extended bear season in Wayne...just when the bear hunting was getting Good, they'll slaughter them too. I wish I could say they manage the resources but all I am seeing is blatant MIS-Management for the sake of the $$. It won't work when the agency managing the resource is funded via License sales of the resource they are managing.
Stop the shooting of does for a year or two it does not matter what us hunters, that are in the woods numerous times a year say about not seeing deer it falls on deaf ears because the slaughter of doe continue where perhaps there are an abundance of deer but in Snyder county they are almost non existing. Please get the seasons back to one deer of either sex and only a 2 or3 day season on does
not to shoot doe's
I would like to see the 4 pt. rule passed for the entire state. Also, I think the spotlighting encourages poaching. I think we need to lessen the amount of doe tags and divided them between res. and non res. hunters or have a lottery! Most important is the poaching issue- I have had poachers on my land, called the game com. and had no response. I think we need some deputy enforcement people to help the wardens...
Stop hunting doe for two weeks!!!!!!!
I have noticed that more deer are being killed out of season by poachers. It need to stop or at least be maintained.
Go back to a (2 week) buck hunting season and a (2 or 3 day) doe season.
I have hunted extensively in other states and Pennsylvania is by far the most mismanaged state in the U.S. The PGC is trying to wipe out the deer herd! The wildlife belong to the people of Pennsylvania and not the PGC. Start listening to the sportsmen's concerns and get off a course of destruction for the people's wildlife. We fund your high paying jobs!!!!!!!
less doe tags / back to three day doe season cut down archery season is to long period. doe season is to long. Whitetail will be all gone before you know it. the game commission does not care if we have any deer left. They are not on the hunters side. Roosevelt would turn over in his grave, if he knew what is happening to the deer and the land they live on. no good food for them to eat!!!!!!!!!!!
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