Wildlife Game Masters

alot of folks are saying the deer herd is down. down from what there were 20 years ago yes there are fewer deer. i dont feel there is a lack of deer though. i think it is just the result of more posted ground. the fact that alot of property owners are afraid they may push that big buck they have on their trail cam to the nieghbor so they all built enclosed tree houses with heaters and they sit all day. you just arent going to see the deer if guys arent moving them. there are gonna be guys that say we did drives all day and only saw a few deer. well refer to my first reason you push them to the nieghbors property and they are sitting in heated blinds the deer arent going to leave that property. fewer deer than 15 years ago yes but i dont feel there is a lack of deer just a lack of hunters moving them around. sorry for the long post but i had to put this out there

I agree to a point. i think the deer herd aint as bad as people think.  the posted ground and the amount of people moving the deer are negatives for seeing deer. but i like it cause now you have to hunt the deer insted of being in the right spot at the right time. i saw fewer deer this year than i have in the past but my buddie who is about 1/2 mile from me saw allot of deer. were the food and the cover is were they will be. by cover i mean un bothered bedding areas. the deer are there people are just going to have to get out of them heated towers and hunt them.

Hunting in Pa is changing, so our tactics have to change with it.  The deer are out there and yes some are on posted property, but maybe we need to look at how we hunt to keep the deer from heading to that property and staying there.  If you push the deer they are going to find somewhere that noone will bother them.  

Game Master at December 5, 2010 at 8:49 PM

Hunting in Pa is changing, so our tactics have to change with it.  The deer are out there and yes some are on posted property, but maybe we need to look at how we hunt to keep the deer from heading to that property and staying there.  If you push the deer they are going to find somewhere that noone will bother them.  

that is the exact reason i posted this. it isnt a lack of deer. its the resistance of the hunters of pa to change. when AR's were introduced everyone including myself didnt like it. i hate change i like a routine. i always have. if im willing to change i think everyone will someday. i just think hunters and not all of them just dont know how to go about it.

I also look at it as "quality over quantity."  Yes, there was a time we would see a hundred deer in a day with MAYBE one or two being buck.  All you need to do is look at the local papers a couple days after the season starts.  The deer are out there and there are a lot more "big" deer as well than there was in the past.   It just takes a little bit of work before the season starts to find them. 

I agree with you guys. The deer hunting at my cabin in Tioga County has been better in the last two years than it ever has been. I actually think that where I hunt  there is more deer than there used  to be because there isn't really that many other hunters in our general area.

There is tons of deer out there just look at the tracks in the snow! the reason why some people cant see tons of deer in a day like they use to is because a deer is beinging hunt 365 days a year since the day it is born by coyotes bears bobcats and hunters! they dont want to be seen cause they will get shot. My father is a taxidermist and people slaughtered the big bucks this year we got almost 400 bucks in to mount!! The point restriction is a big part of that.