Successful PA hunt....PICS

[Bowhunter 400]

Other than Saturday and Monday the rest of the week's weather was terrible. I drilled a 7pt on Sat afternoon and my buddy shot a pretty big doe.
For everyone that is complaining about the antler restrictions and killing of too many does is crazy. I Have been hunting there since 92 and never saw any good rack bucks until about 3 years ago. The Game Commission has done a great job in my opinion to make the herd healthier.

[Tenpoint]

A nice buck, grats!

Tenpoint

[mediastash]

that is a nice buck. well done

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[rapldp]

He looks like he was a really heavy buck

[Bowhunter 400]

he dressed 208 pounds. Not sure what he will score though.

[NYBuckhunter]

Congrats on a great buck! I wish that NY would implement some antler restrictions, maybe we would have more chances at bigger bucks.

[DouglasSpear]

It really depends on what part of PA you are hunting. The PGC has really screwed up many parts of the commonwealth. In Clarion county for example, the hunting is dismal. The antler restriction isn't what is causing the problem in our area though - it's the doe season being combined with the regular gun season and resident only doe tag allocation.

I don't do any bow hunting in PA as I am an Ohio resident therefore I bow hunt in Ohio. However, I do go to PA for gun season since my family has a cabin there and the hunters of the family (men only) get together at the cabin for a weekend of shooting, drinking, and relaxing after Thanksgiving and then hunt the following week. We have seen the deer herd drop drastically, and because of that, the PGC limits the number of doe tags to be allocated for certain WMUs and non-residents don't get a chance to purchase a doe tag. The doe tag allocations only accomodate the residents since residents get first dibs and non-residents have to wait until a later date, and by then, all the doe tags are gone. So not only is the deer herd dropping, but we (non-residents) are limited to only being able to hunt bucks. Unfortunately we aren't seeing many bucks at all either because of the dropping herd. Lastly, they are raising the price of non-residnet hunting licenses from $101 to $151 next year.

You may be seeing results, but don't be fooled, the PGC is using a deer management plan devised by none other than the National Audubon Society. The National Audubon Society, insurance agencies, and the tree timbering companies are getting the real deal while many hunters are left with a poor quality environment ultimately giving poor quality deer. Then they really twist our arms with the laws (mentioned above) that they impose.

[Bowhunter 400]

While I agree with you the amount of deer in the state overall is down i do not agree with the "resident only doe allocation". I have not been without at least 1 doe permit since I started hunting there. Keep in mind I hunted across the state. Back in the early 90's the county I hunted in only gave out 2 or 3000 permits total for res and non res. The fact of the matter is if you time your permit apps to be there on the first day of the draw you get your permit.
The fact of the matter is in the areas we hunt, the best thing the PGC did was knock the poulation back. Before, there was little to no browse and the acorns wouldn't last very long because as they hit the ground the deer would vacum them up. The numbers of deer and competitiion with every other animal for the nuts was out of control.
While I did enjoy seeing 30-40 deer a day it is a little out of whack when there are no rack bucks all spikes, forks & does and very few deer older than 1.5 or 2. I would much rather have a chance at a good rack buck (not a record breaker) and spend some days on stand not seeing any deer.
As far as raising the license fee goes they are just following suit like every other state. They haven't gone up on their fees in years.
The enviormment, terrain,and quality of deer (buck and doe) rack and body size has changed for the better.
If the insurance and timber companies are the driving force than I say thank you. I've shot 2 130" deer on state property in 3 years.

[DouglasSpear]

But that's exactly my point, certain WMUs are fine because the deer herd is flourishing and there are plenty of doe tags to go around. However in many WMU people are getting screwed out of their money and what they can hunt are nothing but small bucks. If there are less doe tags being allocated, then there will ultimately be more does out there. While this may increase the herd (artificially), it also stops all pressure from the deer to move during the rut and it produces lousy deer. There are nothing but fork bucks and small rack deer breeding with the abundance of does. So you may be hunting in an area where the PGC hasn't screwed up. All I can say is, Clarion county is dealing with corruption - I've seen it and heard about it, not just hunting, but fees, citations, etc, over the past 5 years. Rodney Bimber and company may ring a bell; they've tortured our camp for years.

[Bowhunter 400]

I see your point.. those clowns are still around?
I thought the results were the same across the state. I used to hunt from one end to the other but haven't been outside of Pike for a few years. The hunting has been so good since the new regs I haven't had to leave.
It's too bad they don't look at what each zone needs rather than blanket the state with the same regs.

[BBQ Bob]

Congrats man. I was not so lucky. I hunted hard for 3 days straight last week and came up empty. They are out there, just not seeing them during the day.

Cangrats!

BBQ Bob

[DouglasSpear]

I see your point.. those clowns are still around?
I thought the results were the same across the state. I used to hunt from one end to the other but haven't been outside of Pike for a few years. The hunting has been so good since the new regs I haven't had to leave.
It's too bad they don't look at what each zone needs rather than blanket the state with the same regs.

Well Bimber has since moved a few counties over after being run out because of his questionable actions and whatnot. You hit the nail on the head, they need to look at each WMU or zone and determine what's best for that specific area, not blanket the entire state because now instead of balanced hunting, you have very good hunting in some areas and really bad in others. Either way, this is no time to question that you had a great hunt, so congratulations. I can only hope I see something like that here in a few weeks up at the family cabin in Clarion. As far as I know, I may just decide not the spend the money on a non-resident PA hunting license and I will just drink and catch up with family. Driving there and back from Cincinnati Ohio is expensive enough.

[Bowhunter 400]

Douglas....Have a shot or 7 of Jack for me..
I really hope something turns around for you guys out there. That really sucks that the quality of hunting in your WMU isn't what it could or should be. Best of luck

BBQ... I was there for 9 days and the first 3 were killer. Once the weather turned warm the deer pretty much were locked down.
Where in Pike did you hunt last week? I have a little inside info for you if you still have a buck tag to fill. Shoot me a PM if you're interested.

[BBQ Bob]

I was hunting in the Clarks Summit area actually. We saw some big buck at night, just could'nt get em moving during the day. It was 62° everyday.

BBQ Bob

[Bowhunters]

Congrats on the nice buck 400!