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Anyone finding unexplained dead dear in Pa. Walk dogs regularly 3 mile route on paved road. Found two within 2 weeks of each other. Initially thought road kill but not so sure
We have confirmed EHD in lower Montgomery county. Have had deer tested and come back positive. Also central/south Nj have confirmed cases.
We have confirmed EHD in lower Montgomery county. Have had deer tested and come back positive. Also central/south Nj have confirmed cases.
Just road kills around here.
Supposedly an outbreak in the Hudson Valley of NY near Poughkeepsie................
I know of 4 or 5 found dead right in your area Butcher. PGC called to investigate. Have heard nothing confirmed but EHD is the gossip. Nothing out of ordinary seen up by my house.
Don't know about other hunters experience this year but it wasn't what I expected with antlerless opening same as buck for a full week. It was quiet, expected a lot of shooting, but woods were quiet. Hunter pressure where we hunted was light compared to past years. We will see what what kill numbers are posted with the Pa game commissions guess estimate system. Did EDH take its toll? Game commission wouldn't tell the truth if there was a kill off cause less hunters would buy a license. It will take years to build back a decent herd., but you think they will cut license sales, look at the numbers next year when they post kill and quota for the year, Pa hunting is on a down hill slide, has been will continue to be. It will never be what it was.
Does got hammered around Clarion/Armstrong County line in 2-D that I am aware of. Bucks weighed at contests were down.
Butcher, " It will never be what it was. "
I'm not sure how you meant that - whether the numbers of hunters are down or the number of deer are down. If it's the number of hunters that is just a continuation of the decline in hunters for a long time. too many of us getting old, quitting or dying and not enough young people joining the ranks.
If you're talking about the deer herd - were you hunting in the sixties? If you think the deer numbers today are down you should have seen it then. And if you did see a buck it was probably a spike or basket rack. And you can go back farther to the early 1900s when the PGC imported deer from Michigan to give the meager herd a boost.
Deer are very resilient. If left unchecked the herd would double in two to three years.
Yea deer hunting will never be what it use to be , Not many hunters even hunt past 12 noon on first day of rifle any more , deer will just bed down when no hunters are moving, I saw a herd of 10 deer the 2nd Saturday and no one one saw them but me they came running across the road at 4pm all the 2 trucks that hunted that side of road were gone, not much shooting at all hunted up north. The first day of rifle I heard 1 distant shot past 12pm , and not much in the am , my brother got a buck and I hot a doe with my flintlock, I'd rather hunt archery season and my favorite is late season flintlock hunting , rifle season just bonus days sitting in the woods, I won't even shoot a doe anymore with a high power rifle..
Phil I've been hunting since 1964 so yes I hunted in the sixties. Deer population is way down compared to back then. In Carbon county spotting deer was a regular past time, you could go most places in the county and see deer all over, any night. Not uncommon to see herds while hunting. Yes hunter numbers are down, way down. Without hunters in woods who are willing to walk makes it harder to see deer. Believe hunting population is getting older, less people moving deer