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PA. NEW DEER MANAGEMENT PROPOSALS

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nrrick

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I AM LOOKING FOR SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT OUR NEW DEER PROPOSALS BACK HERE IN PA.WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM IOWA HUNTERS WHO ALREADY HAVE THE QUALITY DEER HUNTING THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE.WE HAVE A NEW WHITETAIL MAN IN CHARGE, SOME OF YOU MITE HAVE HEARD OF HIM, GARY ALT THE BEAR MAN.HE DID A GREAT JOB WITH THE BEARS NOW HE IS IN CHARGE OF THE DEER HEARD.HE'S BEEN CAMPAIGNING ALL YEAR WITH HIS NEW PROPOSALS.WE HAVE PLENTY OF WHITETAILS AND PLENTY OF HUNTERS.THAT MAKES OUR RIFLE SEASON HARVEST ABOUT 90% YEAR AND HALF OLD BUCKS.THIS WAS OUR FIRST SEASON DOE AND BUCKS COMBINED. HIS THEORY IS WE ARE SAVING SOME BUCKS BECAUSE HUNTERS WILL SHOOT THE FIRST DEER THEY SEE, MOST LIKELY A DOE.HE WANTS TO PUT A POINT RESTRICTION ACROSS THE STATE 3 ON ONE SIDE IN ONE AREA, 4 ON ONE SIDE IN ANOTHER AREA.HE WANTS A FULL BLOWN RIFLE DOE SEASON BEFORE THE RUT.HE FIGURES LESS DOE FOR THE BUCKS TO BREED.WE ALREADY HAVE AN OCT DOE ONLY MUZZLELOADER SEASON.I DON'T HEAR ALOT OF SUPPORT FOR HIS PLANS.PA. HAS THE WORST TROPHY HARVEST OF ANY STATE IN THE COUNTRY.WHAT DO YOU THINK OF HIS PLANS? NRRICK
 
My 2.5 cents, adjusted for inflation.

We have closely monitored theye area that we have been hunting in Iowa for the last 6 years and unofficially, here is what we are discovering.

At first, we saw a couple of tremendous bucks, one of which is hanging on my wall!! heheh. More does that I though existed and a few smallish bucks. The 10pt I took was with 19 does that day.

We have taken a good deal of does and smaller bucks, a couple of buttons too. The area is in a special anterless tag zone and the farmer told us that if we were trophy hunters, to leave and not come back. He is all about hunting. Loves it. Supports it but doens't care for people that want racks and not meat.

That being said, we helped him with an over population and have enjoyed wonderful venison over the years. Now, having done those hunting practices over the years, taking a few nice bucks, but mostly small ones and does, we are getting bigger deer ever year.

This year we noticed double the amount of really good racks. All with does but smaller groups of does. 5-9 at the most. Sure there is more to it that what we have figured out and I would welcome a discussion from a biologist about this but the Big Bucks are really showing up more and more and we really haven't noticed any decline in overall numbers.
 
rick,
I think gery alt in pa is doing the right thing.I am from pa and left for better hunting.the shoot anything tradition up there
really took the fun out of going out..I would like to see big bucks chasing does myself..not little spikes..
so I trust gary with his background and change hard..but look at the future rewards!!!
pa has some good deer they just need time to grow.I myself get funny looks from my neighbors here in maryland when they hear I am going to kill a doe..on my own property on top of that...
I have too many does and want to save the young bucks..so 2 years into this and I have not taken a buck yet on my own farm..IT is hard after putting in lots of work on the place but you have to do it or get used to shooting small bucks..give gary alt a chance
up there in pa.
doug
 
nrrick, I'm from south central PA (Adams Co.),
and 100% agree with Mr. Alt, but it will never happen, to many good ole boys in PA , totin 760's that only care about getting one on the ground with an antler on it's head, one antlered spike or trophy 10 point makes no difference, so as long as they can blow off about the buck they killed. It's a shame because some of the 1 1/2 year old deer I've seen killed in 25 years of stompin around this state had some real potential if they could have reached 3 1/2-4 1/2 years of age.
rick, nothing personal just my 2 cents, my wife has about two years to get her masters and we're outta here, going west. Sixpackbee,
where are you in MD ? I live 200 yards from the state line and hunt both states, Carroll and Baltimore Counties in MD, took two doe and a buck in MD with my longbow and have a bonus tag left that I may try to fill after X-Mas, my family really likes venison!! Sorry to ramble on guys, didn't mean to take away from the forum, this is by far the single best site I have ever been on, my hat is off to Tony, and everyone who frequents the site.

Steve Bell
 
nrrick,

Most wildlife biologists will tell you managing a quality deer herd is relatively easy. The basic plan is to harvest does to control the population and to adjust the sex ratio. Don't harvest bucks until they reach the desired age, usually 3 1/2 years old or older. With adequate genetics, nutrition and age you will have a herd with a balanced sex ratio and bucks with good age structure including mature bucks for harvest each year. That is the EASY part.

The difficult part is managing the PEOPLE! Gun hunters, bow hunters, meat hunters, trophy hunters, farmers, nonhunters and antihunters all have ideas, and often very different ideas about what should be done.

I don't know Gary but I'd bet he understands the above and that is why he has been doing the campaigning. My suggestion is to try to get one area to go along with his management plan. Once people see what your state can produce, support will build for doing the same thing in other areas.

Good luck!
Old Buck
 
nrrick, thought you might check out what is going on here in MS (Mississippi). Sounds like your Alt guy is doing what we have done the last few years....and the results have been staggering to say the least. Started a 4-point rule statewide 3 or 4 yrs. ago to take pressure off fully healthy 1 1/2 yr olds. along with liberal doe harvests on private land. The outcome is looking to be far in excess of what could have been expected--for the better...more than tripling the 2 1/2 thru 4 1/2 yr old harvest percentages of kills...unlike in iowa and great states of similarity, Miss is not as fertile in general...yet we've got Fulton's world record...the bottom line is that your guy is doing the right thing for bigger animals and even though some hunters will not folllow the rules --most will-- and you should see in 2 or 3 years noticeably many more reports of deer that fit the trophy category...support this guy!!! sounds like he knows what he is doing!! Good Luck
 
Tried to get info of the PA DNR site but was not responding well. Who hunts the rut in PA, gun or bow ?
 
bw the bowhunters are hunting oct and the 2 weeks in nov. no one in the woods hunting deer until mon. after thanksgivig. 2 week rifle which i would like to see shotguns in the southern half of the state. we have noticed that most of the better quality deer states are shotgun only.i don't know how much that changes things.i would like it if gary alt would close buck season for 1 year. he did it for the bears back in the 80's.i think that would take the pressure off those yearlings but there are to many other interest involved to do that. nrrick
 
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