Guest BuckMaster058 Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 Here in PA, ppl feel that there are to few deer and it does show. But how's the herd in other States? They are even going as far to as decrease the allocation. But what do you think needs to be done to fix this problem? Yeah we are seeing bigger buck and when the restrictions were first set in 2002 I got a six pointer, but it seems it gets worst every yr. And it seems to me that we are shooting away to many of the does and need to go back to the old way of 3 days for does season at least in some areas. Well What do you guys think, What needs to be done on this matter and how can we fix it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Daddy Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 Re: What do you think of the deer herd? I don't think one can characterize the deer herd in an entire state with any degree of accuracy. I took my pickup to drop off for state inspection last evening and saw one field with 50 deer feeding in it. I saw at least six fields with actively feeding deer on Saturday afternoon driving the six miles to my son's house. Different locations provide different carrying capacitites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirrelhunter91 Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 Re: What do you think of the deer herd? Too many yotes here in NY, they're doing their share at killing the deer. Now NY is going to have Antler Restricitions and possibly an Earn A Buck program. The Catskills in NY have produce the smallest bucks in all of NY. The antler mass is the smallest out of all other Regions. Only in the Region 3 area. But there also is the unreported deer takes. That plays a big role on the DEC trying to determine what the herd will be like. Also here in the Northeast, the last two winters have been the worst in a long time. I'm sure that had some effect on the deer herds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAhardwoods Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 Re: What do you think of the deer herd? I have to agree in many parts of pa the deer are hurting. I feel that the PGC needs to do a much better job in managing smaller areas instead of these large WMU's. If the two week doe slaughter is working down south thats great. But in the big woods the deer are just not there and the game commission needs to step up and change things for the areas that are hurting just my 2cents Cody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camelNS Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 Re: What do you think of the deer herd? What is the estimated population of deer for PA?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUDRUNNER Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 Re: What do you think of the deer herd? Our herds seem to be pretty spotty in the areas i hunt.One spot i hunt is full of deer and has light hunting pressure.I would say the buck to doe ratio is just about right,and there is plenty of food available.Another spot this was our worst year in the past 10 years,mostly because hunting pressure during gun season is very high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan_Til_I_Die Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 Re: What do you think of the deer herd? Over 5 million deer in Texas and growing. We're also seeing a statewide trend toward QDM, both in the private sector and through the efforts of our Wildlife Department. All in all, a very bright future! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAhardwoods Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 Re: What do you think of the deer herd? I'm not sure what number the PGC is thowing around for the deer population these days.... at least they are admitting the harvest has declined.... "Harvests declining by more than 20 percent in WMUs 1B, 2C, 2E, 2F, 2G, 3D and 4D" http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?Q=163698&A=11 I'm a 2f hunter 20% drop is a large drop ....now i know why i know at least 7 people that never saw a deer during season. Cody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAhardwoods Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 Re: What do you think of the deer herd? double post sorry Cody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimT Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 Re: What do you think of the deer herd? It seems to be getting lower and lower here every year. Very sad. back ten years ago I could drive around at night and see 15-20 deer. I would be lucky to see 1-2 now. Gross. The IFW has given out way to many any deer permits the last several years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrud Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 Re: What do you think of the deer herd? I think Wisconsin's herd is in really good shape. You can spot deer on just about any field at anytime. There are higher numbers in some places of the state and also better buck-to-doe ratios in places. But overall, I think Wisconsin's deer herd is in really good shape. It is in my area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckbuster11 Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 Re: What do you think of the deer herd? I agree that the PA deer herd is a mess. This new plan has been in place for what...3 or 4 years? If you can already see the herd declining this fast, what's it going to be like in 10 to 15 years if the current policies stay in place? I think the first thing the PGC needs to do is get rid of these WMU's and go back to issuing doe tags by county and collecting harvest figures by county. I live and hunt in WMU 2D in Indiana County, yet this unit extends all the way to dang near the Ohio border in Butler County. I dont know how you can possibly control the herd the way you want to when you have management units that big. I think thats why you have tons of deer in one area, and almost nothing in another. They need to go back to issuing the doe tags by county, or formulate even smaller units then that. I think they also need to cut back on the doe license allocations in some areas as well. Also, the PGC needs to find another way to keep track of deer harvests. Having mandatory check in stations wouldnt be a bad idea. I would really like to know how they keep track of deer kill numbers. That PGC article posted above states that 170,000 harvest report cards were turned in this year. Thats a 40% report rate. Yet, somehow they know that the total harvest was a little over 409,000. I dont see how that can be reported with much accuracy when only 170,000 kills were reported. I'm wondering if the antler restrictions need to go too. I realize it might take a few more years to see results but as of right now I havent seen any results at all. The biggest problem with AR that cant be addressed in this system is the fact that bucks with inferior genes, the ones that will never be legal in my unit, get to roam around and breed everything in sight for their whole life. While the ones that have the quality genes and get big racks fast, get taken out. AR can work great on a ranch or a privately owned piece of ground because you can manage it exactly the way you want and you can take out those "management bucks". But, I dont think it can work on a state wide level because you are dealing with so many hunters that are hunting for different reasons and have different goals in terms of what they want to shoot, plus you have over a million deer to manage. Because of that, I'm not sure that AR can ever work in this state the way everyone wants it to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 Re: What do you think of the deer herd? Pretty lucky in Ohio. Our herd is still growing a bit, and the quality in bucks seems to be getting better every year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted March 29, 2005 Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 Re: What do you think of the deer herd? our herd is doin great here...the herd is just dispersing from the winter herding area, and hitting the fields all day. Deer are in every field, figure I got about 100 on my farm alone right now, but it will thin out as the snow is going fast, and my fields are higher than most, so they melt faster than others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strut_Buster Posted March 29, 2005 Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 Re: What do you think of the deer herd? Wisconsin's Herd IS HUGE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted March 29, 2005 Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 Re: What do you think of the deer herd? It really depends on which part of this state you're talking about. Some areas are overpopulated and others have low deer numbers. Where I do most of my hunting at home our area is slightly overpopulated but it's sure a lot better than it was 15 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted March 29, 2005 Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 Re: What do you think of the deer herd? Whenever a state is making a concentrated effort to reduce the deer population, I think you are going to see pockets of both high population and extreme low population. Both conditions can occur within the same management areas, or even the same townships. The more popular hunting areas, or public areas or accessible areas will be hit harder than some of the posted private lands. That's one of the reasons why I never comment on the deer population in our entire state. There is absolutely no way that I can have any first hand knowledge of what is going on in our county, let alone what is going on across the entire state. Also, winter and early spring sightings here in the north country have very little meaning, since the deer are generally bunched up and located in very visible open fields in broad daylight. It certainly does give the impression that there are great numbers of deer until you start realizing that what you are looking at are all the deer for miles around concentrated in a field or two. Generally speaking, I don't believe the state game officials that really know how many deer they have in the whole state. I know, all the states publish a number, but I think that number has more to do with satisfying the public and the media than it does with any real validity. If they don't know the real numbers, I'm not sure just how any of us could accurately assess the deer herd, statewide. Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted March 30, 2005 Report Share Posted March 30, 2005 Re: What do you think of the deer herd? I agree with doc here, that pretty much is the way it is here.private has a much better herd than the public land. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted March 30, 2005 Report Share Posted March 30, 2005 Re: What do you think of the deer herd? Welcome to the forums. Our herd here is fair. They tried some increases in doe limits last year, I am not so sure that helped us out at all though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper Posted March 30, 2005 Report Share Posted March 30, 2005 Re: What do you think of the deer herd? There are places in the state that don't have the numbers they use to....but thats what the PGC wanted. The prob. isn't the PGC...its the greedy hunters, yes I said it. I remember a few years back (around 10years ago) when I heard guys complaining about not getting their doe tag...it was an every year thing. We all knew folks who didn't get tags and all they did was complained. Well...they got what they wished for...most everybody gets the tags they want. Now they are killing first legal buck they see and 2 to 3 does and complaining the next year about no deer. I also remember folks complaining about these small county doe restrictions. I heard guys saying we should be able to hunt any where in the state with these doe tags. Again, PGC listened and made bigger units to hunt for does. Heard folks complaining about 3 day doe season. Monday, Tuesday and Wensday...we work, how do they expect us to hunt 3 days during the week? They wanted more chances to harvest a doe...guess what? The PGC extended the season to run 2 full weeks with buck season. I'm not ignorant...I realize the deer herd is hurting in areas of the state. However, I can't and will not feel bad for the guys/gals who hunt the same rock, tree, etc... and complain about not seeing any deer. The deer are out there...maybe not like it used to be...now you actually have to hunt a little bit. To many hunters got used to going out and killing their deer and be at the bar for lunch. As far as the Antler Restrictions...I love 'em! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the pictures in the local news papers to see the difference in the bucks. 10 to 15 years ago, we would go spotting at night and see literally hundreds of deer...maybe a few "good" bucks. Now I see more and more "real good" bucks than ever before. I think alot of hunters thought in a few years with the AR, they would start harvesting 180" bucks. They are out there, but lets be realistic. Its not uncommon to see or hear of a person who harvested a 130" buck now. Also, take in consideration that these 2 1/2-3 1/2 year old bucks have been through a few seasons and wised up. My biggest complaint with the PGC...they over react. I know that they'll do something new with the restrictions again this year. They can't leave things be for a little while. All in all, I don't see a huge prob. with the deer herd in PA and I have practiced AR way before the PGC made it law. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrud Posted March 30, 2005 Report Share Posted March 30, 2005 Re: What do you think of the deer herd? [ QUOTE ] the herd is just dispersing from the winter herding area, and hitting the fields all day. Deer are in every field [/ QUOTE ] Same here! Especially the last couple days, it's been 60 degrees and almost all the snow is gone in the fields. There are some valleys and low spots in the fields and the water is all going there. Deer are hitting that like crazy right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutter10x Posted March 30, 2005 Report Share Posted March 30, 2005 Re: What do you think of the deer herd? well i dont disagree with you pa hunters...however its not the case where i hunt in bradford co....i saw as many or more deer the last 2 years as ever...and bigger bucks......around 25-40 deer per day....5-10 bucks.....3-5 legal bucks..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfoot22 Posted March 30, 2005 Report Share Posted March 30, 2005 Re: What do you think of the deer herd? Too many deer and too many turkeys.I can't say for the whole state,but there are so many deer here in south central VA.There was some big bucks taken this past season but the does are taking over man.Easter monday my son and I counted 126 deer in two fields and 88 turkeys in the same fields. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosierbuck Posted April 1, 2005 Report Share Posted April 1, 2005 Re: What do you think of the deer herd? Indiana's herd is delicious! Also, the population is good from what I see. HB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camelNS Posted April 1, 2005 Report Share Posted April 1, 2005 Re: What do you think of the deer herd? MAN,you fellas got it REALLY GOOD when it comes to deer numbers!!!Over a million deer in some of the states.Thats outstanding.Here in NS we have very low deer numbers,only 40-50 thousand,down from around 80 000 in 2000.Its tough hunting to say the least.VERY Unbalanced buck to doe ratio,not the best harvest regulations,long season and BAD WINTERS.Its all really taking its toll here in NS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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