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PA Deer Opening day
ladams
Member Posts: 604 ✭✭✭✭
Anyone do any good? I was out from 6am to 4pm, got soaked to the bone, darn near froze to death up in NW PA, and saw about 5 deer all day. One buck that I could not get an antler count on. Anyone else have any luck? The woods sure were awful quiet, only heard about 100 shots all day, many of which were multiple strings where someone must have jumped some. Do not know of a single deer taken in the area.
Comments
It was PA weather here today though, I almost thought about wearing long pants and had to wear a hooded sweatshirt til almost 10am(!?)
D.
quote:Originally posted by Mr. Gunz
I shot 2 does...yes its illegal but my dad tagged one...
WOW...my old man would have tagged the other only after knocking the shiite out of me and I wouldn't be hunting the next 2 weeks...times have changed.
12.5" 7 point
My family still lives there and a couple still hunt avidly. Seems as if it is now unusual to see more that one or two at a time and then only rarely, at least in our area.
I hunted it last year for the first time in over 20 years. My brother and I spend a solid 3-6 hours a day running the woods checking out the old haunts, scouting for deer sign while hunting bushy tails and grouse. Good times with my Bro, but a massive disappointment on the deer issue. There were some around, but not many.
Opening day found everyone and their grandma sitting up a tree for a rousing session of S&S (sit and shoot). Couldn't hardly still hunt without seeing some bonehead who was sitting up in a tree-ranch (hunting?). Only people I saw on the ground were marching to/from their tree-ranches.
Now I wish I had not gone deer hunting there. It destroyed all my good memories of actual hunting and actual goodly numbers of whitetails.
Did the insurance companies finally pressure the Game Commission into liberalizing the kill to massively reduce the herd?
My daughter got her first buck Mon.at 11am. We hunt small patches of woods around our house.We didn't see or hear much all morning.So I walked out a small hollow to her with no luck. Once I got to where she was standing,we started bs ing and looking around.I glanced behind us,to a field across the road and there come 1 right at us.We hunkered down and just waited til a clear shot was available.Once she shot I saw it carrying it's front leg and knew that was a good hit.But he kept on the move so I popped him to and down he went.Both shots were right behind the shoulder.I figure he wouldn't have gone another 30yrds even if I didn't shoot,so she gets the credit in my book.
12.5" 7 point
Nice buck! She certainly does get all the credit!! Congrats!!
As for the hunters, there definitely seem to be fewer in the woods, which definitely has an impact on deer movement on the first day. However, I've also noted that there are fewer dedicated hunters. I observe many who race into the woods via their SUVs, jump out, spend an hour or two, and then takeoff. Many say they need to get to work and aren't willing to take time off on Monday, the first day of the season. Oh, and I've seen lots of shooters wildly spraying rounds at running deer, but not too many real hunters. The times, they are a changin'!
Hunted all day, My brother got one large doe, Hit a nice buck but lost it blood trail after about 600 yards. That sucked. I did jump out 25 deer in one herd. 6 in another. Rained all day. This was the first time I ever had gor-tex leak through. I walked through the mountain laurel all day pushing deer, my boots were full of water, not to mention my clothes.
everyone in our camp was cussing the gor-tex and Cabelas Dry-Plus stuff they had. We were all soaked to the bone. Miserable day. Unfortunately I could not stay up there through the weekend...
You hear the same things from some of these hunters, "There isn't hardly any deer left, this is unreal, ohh by the way I saw one doe today and I shot it!"
If you complain about the lack of deer and how you would like to see the deer herds come back QUIT SHOOTING THE DOES!!! I gave up hunting in PA, I havent bought a license here in two years and I doubt I will ever buy another one. My deer rifles are put up, I have no desires to even take them to the range. The politics and other things that are damaging the deer hunting here in PA has totaly turned me against it. It hurts like the dickens to turn my back on something I love and cherish so much but I can no longer be a part of the problem. Both of my teenagers have said the heck with hunting and I know several people locally here that would rather take the time off work reserved for deer season and go shopping with their wives.
Thank you PAGC, you have destroyed something that was once great.
I hate to laugh but we did it to ourselves and some of us who saw this coming was labeled as whiners who didn't know how to hunt. Well if there is a deer in the woods I'll find it, my entire life has been dedicated to deer season here in PA and I must say it is ruined.
You hear the same things from some of these hunters, "There isn't hardly any deer left, this is unreal, ohh by the way I saw one doe today and I shot it!"
If you complain about the lack of deer and how you would like to see the deer herds come back QUIT SHOOTING THE DOES!!! I gave up hunting in PA, I havent bought a license here in two years and I doubt I will ever buy another one. My deer rifles are put up, I have no desires to even take them to the range. The politics and other things that are damaging the deer hunting here in PA has totaly turned me against it. It hurts like the dickens to turn my back on something I love and cherish so much but I can no longer be a part of the problem. Both of my teenagers have said the heck with hunting and I know several people locally here that would rather take the time off work reserved for deer season and go shopping with their wives.
Thank you PAGC, you have destroyed something that was once great.
I completely agree...I don't even buy doe tags. And I refuse to even shoot a buck unless it is a good size. I'll be skipping my PA hunt next year and possibly go to WV or MD instead.
Well if you want to try to save the deer herd, not buying doe tags is not the way to do it. Buy them and don't use them, if you don't buy it someone else will and use it. I buy several each year and never fill one, the only one that will get filled is my daughters if she decides she wants to shoot a doe.
If these so called sportsman group that are upset with all the doe tag allocations want to do somthing about the deer herd, put up or shut up. If every member would buy a doe tag and burn them just think of all the deer that would survive. They could have a party which seems to be the biggest reason to start one of these groups anyhow; and your addmision fee could be your doe tag when you throw it in the fire.
The Game Comision dose not care about how many deer there are as long as they get your $6.00 and I think it is a small price to pay to try and bring the deer herd back. How many spend that $6.00 at the convience store for coffee every week or for a scratch of lottery ticket. Not trying to make anybody mad but it somthing to think about[;)]
We then started to hear coyotes. Didn't hear them before that....or even know we had them.
Didn't see a darned thing. I was out from 6:30 am to about noon. I would have stuck it out longer but despite no deer, DID manage to trip and fall in a mud puddle. I got sick of being cold and so I left. Tomorrow I'll give it another shot, and this weekend on private ground.
We were logging near the Allegheny National Forest on a piece of gamelands. We had stopped to eat lunch in the woods, a doe, a yearling and a fawn came running in close to where we were.; then I saw a large bear coming down the same path, but he winded us or had seen us and went the other way. Pretty smart old doe to run in close to us to get the bear off their trail.
Like I said before, the PAGC does not care how many deer there are it's all about the money. It it is going to be up to the sportsman to bring the deer population back up. Buy the doe tags and the throw them away, burn them, put them in a drawer, forget about them. It will not take that long if you can get hunters to do this , just my 02..........
the real problem is, is that everyone feels the need to get, and fill a gazillion doe and bonus tags. It's a retarded situation. so if you shot more than one deer this year YOU are the problem. period.
D.
http://aginfo.psu.edu/psa/fw2003/fawns.html
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