Hunter numbers?
Contributors to this thread:Pennsylvania
From: hawkeye in PA
15-Dec-19
Having bowhunted in this past two week season I found it alarming with all the hunters I seen and even more so with the lack of shooting. Not sure the reasons, just natural decline, EHD , CWD, ticks, posted property, food banks not accepting deer. Your thoughts.
From: twistedlimb
15-Dec-19
So you are alarmed by seeing many hunters or too few?I saw less hunters I think and shooting was slow for sure which it has been and I hunted in two opposite areas of the state.Both areas were slow the last couple of years and the one has been slow for some time longer.Think EHD in one area may be an issue,lack of hunters due to lower deer numbers and lack of interest overall.
From: hawkeye in PA
15-Dec-19
I seen 50% less hunters than last year and we had snow at times. Hunted 4 different counties and all areas had a good number of deer, although they stayed on posted property it seemed. (Prior scouting confirmed the deer numbers.) Lack of interest may explain it. Or archery season was really good. Didn't see a legal buck in the past two week season though. I live in a practically unlimited doe tag area (2B) and no hunters this made me think if the food banks. Maybe more people hunted for the do good feeling.
From: Red Beastmaster
16-Dec-19
Posted properties, an older age group, a changing society, lack of interest in general, etc, etc.
The "Orange Army" spent the season on the couch playing video games.
I just watched seven deer walk by my house (4AM). Come on late season!
From: Bowhunter s
16-Dec-19
Yea same where I hunted, lack of hunters. No shooting, and deer numbers are way down, I know a hunter that did not see a deer the whole rifle season, first day was good, I think people hunting first day for a buck then done for the year.
From: Olink
16-Dec-19
Where are you guys hearing about the food banks not accepting deer? I have not heard about that... Is it maybe just CWD areas? I just dropped a doe off at a Hunters Sharing the Harvest processor last week with no issues...
From: Supernaut
16-Dec-19
It seemed as if there were the same amount of rifle hunters in my area of 2B as usual. I snuck to within 15 yards of a bedded spike with my recurve in the rain this past Saturday. I'm looking forward to the second season. I have noticed that the deer around here are pretty holed up and sticking to thick cover which is pretty common once rifle season starts.
From: DCNOE
16-Dec-19
I hunt SE PA and dropped off a doe last week to the local butcher I use. I heard about these potential issue's and the future of the program, so I asked him. He is still processing deer for the HSH program and the local bucks county food banks are accepting them. He did say Philadelphia food banks would only accept donations if he could verify the deer didn't have CWD. He wouldn't do that so he's not donating to that area. If this continues I think the program could be in trouble...which would be a real shame for all those benefiting from it.
From: Teeton
16-Dec-19
Worst year ever for seeing other hunters. Where I'm at I and the other guys that are hard core hunters are saying the same thing.. " No one hunts anymore " We all agree that our area is seeing less than 50% ( I even think it's less than that) of the hunters we would see just 10 years ago. That's a 3 county area.. It does concern me where the future of hunting is going.
I have no doubt though that I am seeing the best deer and bear hunting right now that I've ever seen.. But yet no one is hunting.
From: Bowhunting 5C
16-Dec-19
HSH is still accepting deer, dropped one of in Chester County last week of Archery season.
From: hawkeye in PA
16-Dec-19
Some butchers around here have closed shop or will not process deer because of CWD. And I read about the food banks but did not verify it. We have had many hunters in my area that shot many (5-15) deer and donated them in the past. The ticks and posted land have really increased in my area. But I did hunt other area's with similar results. No deer shortage, legal bucks sightings rare.
From: bill v
16-Dec-19
Dave: what butcher?
From: Bowhunter s
16-Dec-19
South west pa needs no doe season next year, let population increase.
From: DCNOE
16-Dec-19
Bill it was Bill's. Last time I dropped off it was after the article in the game news paper. He was there while dropping so had a few minutes to chat. Said he's still processing because all the local food banks in lower bucks are still accepting the venison.
From: Will tell
17-Dec-19
Was a rough year for rifle hunters in Western Pa. we had snow one morning out of the two week season and rained a lot. I saw one hunter the 1st day and heard only 4 shots all morning. I never saw another hunter the whole archery season. Mercer county has a lot of posted property and most of the hunters are sitting in their tree houses. Yes I said tree houses.
I know you fellas get tired of hearing about the old days but I use to hunt all day hunting in a big circle covering about 5 miles and never hit posted property. Deer moved all day and hunters moved a lot of deer. I cant think of a place I hunt that I could go more than a half a mile in any direction without hitting posted property.
From: bill v
17-Dec-19
Thanks Dave. Didn’t think he was having any trouble getting the meat out to the kitchens. I just got a thank you letter last week from the state for my donations to the program. I believe the experts say Consumption of meat from CWD areas is no danger to humans, unless something has changed recently.
From: horsethief51
17-Dec-19
We only saw a handful (5) of other hunters on the ground next to our long (half mile or so) narrow 120 acres of fields and woods. Only 2 of them got does. There were fewer guys driving up and down the road. My neighbor's teen aged son got a nice buck first Monday. An Amish mentored youth got a buck the second week. The 5 other guys that hunted here in rifle season killed 5 does and one buck. Since the Amish neighbor's moved in and put fence up for pastures along 80% of the north side nobody puts on big drives thru here anymore. Prior to that signs did not stop them.
I worked 2 nights the first week weighing deer at our big buck contest and we had about 120 weighed in by Monday night. It was a little down from last year but the (mostly very local) bucks were nice and healthy. We have lots of bucks 2.5 years old plus but still see a lot of year and half old 8 points.
My camera cards that were pulled the end of the first week showed lots of deer going past them in the dark, including several legal and a few fine bucks. Land owner on the south side of me saw 15 does in his field the last Friday just before dark.
I guess I would have to say the hunter numbers are down, but I see females out there more than ever. We still could have stood taking a few more does.
From: Justgrad25
17-Dec-19
Bowhunter s, Maybe in your small, localized area but not the SW as a whole. I hunt one property where what you say is true but 4 or 5 other spots I hunt, there are plenty of doe and plenty of bucks. Just wish more bucks would get to 3.5 or better....I didn't help that much this year shooting a really nice 2.5'er (at least I think he was).
From: DCNOE
17-Dec-19
Bill your absolutely correct and Bill presented that case to the Philadelphia area food banks. That apparently wasn't good enough for them.
From: Bowhunter s
17-Dec-19
Just grad 25 ya I hear you , Ive got woods in that I will not harvest any does. Then there are woods that have alot most are places where you can't hunt, my hometown is in 1a.
From: X-Master
17-Dec-19
Times are changing men. This isn't your Dad's hunting season anymore. The PGC has managed to even out /spread the pressure by creating new and extended seasons and regs.( crossbows, early muzzleloader and rifle, special reg areas etc.) that a lot of hunters are trying - liking- and being successful at it. I see all this as a Good Thing. In the past, primative weapons seasons were always an "after thought" by the PGC. Going forward with fewer hunters and an aging population- they may have to reconsider that approach and use them more as a management tool than in the past by further increasing opportunity and tags to manage deer. Rifle season is definitely a shell of itself but those that were willing to actually hunt and hunt hard and not depend on someone else to move the deer to them were rewarded (witness social media) by the spread out of harvest opportunities. IMO this can only mean good things for at least the immediate future of hunting.
From: Rut Nut
17-Dec-19
From: hawkeye in PA
17-Dec-19
I'm afraid that will be my yard shortly!!
From: Jethro
18-Dec-19
I thought my section of the Poconos had more guys hunting during rifle than last year. Good number of cars in the mornings. What I don't see is the number of guys hunting till dark. By mid afternoon most gone. I hunted most of the 2nd week and there were guys hunting. Not crowded, but what I expected for that week. Heard shooting too. As for deer numbers It was very good for the 3rd year in a row. Numerous deer everyday and many bucks even into through the 2nd week. Saw a bear twice that survived the season. It was fun hunting. All public land.
From: Rut Nut
18-Dec-19
Just wondered what part of the Poconos Jethro?
I hunted the first 3 days out in Western Pa, but hunted off of 402 in Pike Co. The second Saturday. My buddy hunted the first day there and said there were trucks parked everywhere. By the second Saturday, we were the only ones parked there. Of course it was much colder that day with lows in the lower teens. Only heard a few shots WAY off. Saw a few vehicles parked on 390 near Promised Land and a couple guys just going in the woods at noon.
Haven’t rifle hunted in years, so not sure if this is typical.
From: Rut Nut
18-Dec-19
My buddy spotted this bear the other day in the same area. We saw bear tracks in the snow there, but obviously not big enough to be THIS bear’s!
From: Jethro
18-Dec-19
That's a nice bear. The one I saw was not that big. Rut, sent you a PM.
From: elk yinzer
18-Dec-19
I saw a lot of people out, but in rifle season I target that specifically in that season since I was just after does. There's an area outside SC that still gets hammered by the drives pretty good, and they keep the deer moving around all the thick cuts. When you can find their safe havens from the predictable drives, gold mine. I also did a lot of driving around in my vehicle just scouting out different areas and the amount of private land that goes totally unhunted in rifle season anymore is amazing.
From: Bonafide
18-Dec-19
I've def seen a major decline in hunters and number of shots in my area on gun opener and all two weeks.
From: Bowhunter s
18-Dec-19
I hear you willtell, i think the hunting tradtion is dying. No shooting in rifle season, I hunt alot in archery and there is alot of posted land around , kids don't want to sit in woods for hours maby days in some areas and see nothing. Up north pa there were more hunters in there camps for first day of buck then in the past, and I'm finding out there has been alot of dmap areas , thought pa went to buck only for the first week other then the special regs areas. 6 deer in 2 mile area can eat hell of alot of corn for farmer to get dmap tags.
From: Olink
18-Dec-19
With crossbows legal in archery season, I think a lot of guys are tagging out in archery season. Then they aren't out and about during rifle.
From: Tundra
18-Dec-19
Franklin / Fulton counties I think the deer numbers are way down. Some bowhunters out there hitting it hard but not crowded, hunting public lands and seeing less and less deer every year. This is a CWD zone it may be worse than PGC knows. My opinion is we should not be killing does.
From: Bowhunter s
18-Dec-19
Tundra I hunt beaver. Lawrence County yea see less and less deer every year , we aren't in the cwd area ,if we were we'd be in big trouble, there are pockets of deer mostly in the neighbor hoods , but not in the big woods, I'd like to see the deer per square mile that the game commission used to post, alot of the bigger woods by my house I wouldn't suprise me has a big old 0 per square mile in some of areas, but just cause they give hunters 6 doe tags don't mean you got to shoot 6.
From: Rut Nut
18-Dec-19
Got it Jethro.
Yep, amazing he made it thru a week of muzzleloader and Jr/Sr rifle, a week of archery, regular rifle season AND week of extended (first week of rifle deer overlap) But like they say.....................they DON’T get big for NO reason! ;-)
From: Bowhunting 5C
19-Dec-19
Bowhunter s, I disagree.. We, the hunters are a game management tool and they sell doe tags to get used in areas. If we buy 6 and can take six, I am not seeing your problem with that. If you have issues with the numbers of tags guys buy, by all means go to the PGC and get them to cut the allocations. It is the hunters who manage are the tools the PGC uses to manage the herds. This is not 1989, where doe tag burning parties are prevalent anymore.
From: Feedjake
19-Dec-19
Deer numbers seem good up in Crawford Country/1B. I can only get 2 doe tags for 1B so I supplement with DMAP tags to fill the freezer. I'd say hunter numbers during rifle season were down some from other years. Definitely heard shooting though.
From: hawk-eye
19-Dec-19
Deer numbers were up in the area I hunt, I saw many deer both bucks and does during archery season. During the two weeks of rifle season I didn't hear much shooting, I'm thinking there will be even more deer in the area next year.
From: Bowhunter s
19-Dec-19
Bowhunting 5c I agree with you hunters do control deer herds, but in some areas i don't agree with what they are doing, I see as your name guessing you hunt in 5c eastern pa where the hunting is the best part in the state.
From: Bowhunter s
19-Dec-19
Up north pa where my camp is deer herd is coming back nice ,bUT then they just give more doe permits, I'm not against shooting does but some places I am if not seeing many deer in that area , that's management too.
From: X-Master
19-Dec-19
I wouldn't get too concerned about doe tags next year just yet. If the newly proposed seasons go through at the Jan. PGC meeting as recommended by the biologists, then you'll probably see a reduction in doe tags in many units as per this article. They use the number of tags allotted and season lengths to control numbers - not the number of hunters. It should be interesting to watch what happens. https://adventures.everybodyshops.com/pa-hunting-seasons-changes/
From: X-Master
19-Dec-19
X-Master's Link
Should have made it an easier link I guess.
From: Bowhunter s
19-Dec-19
I read that link x master. 2 weeks of rifle doe does not bring the population down, gosh there messed up, when it was like that the hunters who only hunt 1 or maby 2 days a year shoot first thing they see.
From: Bowhunter s
19-Dec-19
They want to please the guys who hunt 1 day a year, how about the guys who hunt 6 weeks of archery, 2 weeks of rifle , 3 weeks of late season , that's who there getting there money from, that's how long I hunt every season, pretty soon got to get some lease land in wv. And there goin to lose more hunters the following year.
From: Bowhunter s
19-Dec-19
That's there solution for chronic wasting disease, open doe season back up for 2 weeks. Think about it.
From: Boris
20-Dec-19
I think people have to remember that we had a major change in the hunting season. The Saturday start. I do believe that many hunters had their thanksgiving plans in place. So, hunting took a backseat to their holiday plans. I did go out on Saturday in 1B. I was on stand about 5:30. Stayed there until 2:30. Heard about 40-50 shots all day. Now these where within ear shot. I did see 3 deer. I did see 1 other hunter. I think next year will be different.
From: Bowhunter s
20-Dec-19
Yea it will be different next year boris, they are proposing a 2 week doe season , 14 days .
From: Teeton
20-Dec-19
Wow 40 or 50 shots. I don't think I heard that many in 2 maybe 3 years.
From: BC173
20-Dec-19
Same here Ed.
From: elk yinzer
20-Dec-19
My honest (personal) thoughts, only thing better than the Saturday opener would be running archery season Sept 15 - Jan 15 statewide. Rifle should be concurrent, it makes too much sense. Bear and buck and doe should all start the same day. And get the Xbows where they belong in their own season classification. They get a few weeks. With no magnified scopes.
From: hawkeye in PA
21-Dec-19
With the lack of hunters I witnessed this year your wishes may be necessary sooner than you think. Except for the Xbow part:(
I could set a clock at the time deer walk under my motion light, they are coming off of posted property.
From: BC173
21-Dec-19
elk yinzer for the win.
But it just makes too much sense.
From: Teeton
21-Dec-19
I am 100% in agreement that magnified scopes on any archery equipment should not be allowed.
Don't say rules can't be changed. I know this isn't Colorado, but Colorado took away scopes on inlines years back. Ed
From: Bowhunter s
28-Dec-19
6 month seasons buck doe and bear , start hunting season in sept to Feb rifle every day, then from Feb to April flintlock , if it's brown it's down. F pgc.
From: hawkeye in PA
28-Dec-19
Seen 3 hunters on the 26th no shooting. Today heard 3 shots in the distance and seen one other bow hunter. Also had many ticks on pants. It's 8:14 pm Saturday evening and just heard two shots as I'm typing this. Ridiculous!!
From: George D. Stout
08-Apr-20
The trend over the past twenty-couple years...maybe thirty years, has been for a down trend of significant size. If you look at the numbers you will see a decline from a high of 1,300,000 total hunters in Pa. to just under a million. That is a significant change. We can wonder all day about why it's happening but the biggest thing is kids aren't getting into hunting like they did in the past, and it doesn't have much, if anything to do with the deer or other game populations.
It's a nationwide trend and mostly because kids aren't introduced to hunting as something dad always did because dads now aren't all that into hunting. Couple that with the advent of technology and virtual reality and you have a good recipe for hunter decline. Don't know if all of that is a bad thing as long as it tapers off at some point so we don't lose our political clout. Where I live out here in rural Bedford County, bowhunters especially are few and far between.
