Mathews Inc.
Monday, last day.
Pennsylvania
Contributors to this thread:
horsethief51 14-Jan-24
Bowhunting 5C 14-Jan-24
Bowbender 14-Jan-24
Teeton 14-Jan-24
Woody 15-Jan-24
Bowhunting 5C 15-Jan-24
Bowbender 15-Jan-24
Griz 16-Jan-24
Bowhunting 5C 16-Jan-24
Woody 16-Jan-24
horsethief51 16-Jan-24
Bowhunting 5C 17-Jan-24
Teeton 17-Jan-24
Yodameister 20-Jan-24
Bowhunting 5C 20-Jan-24
14-Jan-24
Wondering if anybody else is going to brave the cold tomorrow to try and go hunting outside of the special regs areas? I might if the wind slows down a bit. Just picturing a nice short blood trail in the snow from a pass through. Two of my pop up blinds were still standing yesterday and there were tracks near them in range. Good luck if you go.

14-Jan-24
Good luck Art. I went out and pulled cards from my cameras this morning, the amount of deer still around during daylight is stunning. Hopefully you're season ends elbow deep in a chest cavity.

From: Bowbender
14-Jan-24
Hoping to take the flintlock out one more time.

From: Teeton
14-Jan-24
I'll be in Downingtown next 2 weekends. I got a 5c tag just for this reason. May go for a walk in Mash Creek State Park, French Creek State Park or one of the gamelands around there. Anyone have any experience in any of these places??

From: Woody
15-Jan-24
Deer are pretty scarce on public lands in 5C, unless you have private lands to hunt. Also keep in mind that rifles are a legal weapon in this extended season. Selling 10's of thousands of doe tags for 5C might be great for those that have private land to hunt, but it is devastating to the deer populations on state land. PS, if you find some private land, keep in mind the border for 5C and 5D run pretty close to Downingtown. Downingtown itself is in 5D.

15-Jan-24
The border for 5C is above 113, 5D is below.

From: Bowbender
15-Jan-24
We used to hunt (Flintlock) White Clay State Park. Down of off Yeatman Station road. Ton of deer, enough guys to move the deer. Might look into it again.

From: Griz
16-Jan-24
Selling 10s of thousands of doe tags has nothing to do with there being few deer on public land and it has not devastated the herds, especially in the Special Regs areas. Those deer simply succumb to the unending pressure that starts with dove season and move onto private land where pressure is minimal or no hunting is allowed. Drive around those public parcels after dark and you will see tons of deer on neighboring properties. Its all about access down here.

16-Jan-24
^^^^^^^^+1^^^^^^

From: Woody
16-Jan-24
I moved from Susquehanna county to Chester cty 16 years ago. In Susquehanna cty you could drive around at night and see tons of deer. Not so in western Chester county where I live. Most of the farms are Amish in my area, and you won't see any deer in their fields. Drive around the hobby, rich men's farms, and sure you see deer there. I don't believe you can manage deer properly with the size of the zones PA has. Where I am in NW Chester cty is a whole different ball game than southern horse country Chester cty. They needed to make the management zones smaller, rather than larger.

16-Jan-24
Single digits in the morning. Couple deer I saw in the afternoon were out of range.

17-Jan-24
Woody, pressure . Pressure and food is what drives those heads. I also hunt 5C and to a point I. Agree. But yup the unit should be smaller but also yield more tags per areas. Those deer will return to those public lands in February. Sucks, but they are not stupid.

From: Teeton
17-Jan-24
Thanks everyone for the info. If I make it out, I'll let you know what I saw.

From: Yodameister
20-Jan-24

Yodameister's embedded Photo
Yodameister's embedded Photo
One last doe to end the late season. First deer off of my in-laws property. This old girl was in range for about 5 minutes but I couldn’t get drawn back. Tried twice but only got halfway back. It was 16 degrees but I’m not convinced that was the only factor. I think I was a little excited! Finally got drawn on the third attempt but then the other5 deer with her spooked and she almost got away. Stopped her at 32 yards and made a high lung/arterial hit that painted a wide swath out through the woods. Even so, she made it about 100 yards before I watched her go down.

20-Jan-24
Curtis, congratulations on a fine doe. Way to stick with it. Second season success doesn't come easily..

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