Pennsylvania deer management program
April 20th, 2006 by Administrator
Pennsylvania deer management program to continueThe state Game Commission will not change controversial deer seasons or antler restrictions.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission decided yesterday to support all the key provisions of its embattled deer management program, risking a further backlash from frustrated hunters whose license fees provide the bulk of agency funding.
The commissioners voted 6-2 in Harrisburg to continue unchanged the various deer seasons and the antler restrictions that determine whether a buck is fair game.
They made relatively minor changes in the number of antlerless licenses issued for each of the state’s 22 wildlife management units, with some up and others down. The biggest change was in the mountainous north-central region known as WMU 2G, where the allocation was cut to 19,000 from 29,000.
Doe tags have become a hot-button issue the last couple of years, with many sportsmen arguing that few deer were left to hunt because so many females had been killed as part of the state’s effort to reduce the herd and allow forests to regenerate. The loudest complaints came from the north central area, where hunters from Philadelphia and everywhere else built camps when deer were booming.
Yesterday’s vote was accompanied for the first time by assessments from staff biologists of four measures used to guide deer management in each unit: deer health, habitat health, deer-human conflicts, and recent deer population trends.
In other action yesterday:
The commissioners gave final approval to extended black bear seasons, including a new two-day archery-only hunt in areas with large bear populations.
A mentored youth hunting program, intended to slow the decline in hunters, was given preliminary approval.
More about all of the above is online at www.pgc.state.pa.us.
By Don Sapatkin
Inquirer Staff Writer