2007 Deer Harvest Down as Expected By Dr. N. Charles Bolgiano According to the Pa. Game Commission, the 2007 estimated deer harvest was 323,070 deer, down 11 percent from 2006. Of that number 109,200 were antlered deer (down 19 percent) and 213,870 were antlerless (down 5 percent). While the PGC will blame poor weather during the first day of the gun season as the primary reason for the reduced deer kill, most hunters attribute it to fewer deer. What do all the PGC deer harvest numbers mean? That’s a good question without a good answer. A little historical prospective might be helpful... In the late 1990s during an early skirmish in the current Deer Wars, we chose to use only PGC data to challenge deer management decisions. How could the PGC argue with their own numbers? It was not long before the flow of data stopped or became useless due to the larger WMUs, leaving only the annual harvest numbers to evaluate the performance of the new deer management team. Although the PGC continues to discuss antlered and antlerless harvests as if all antlerless deer are females, boys and girls are definitely different. Thus, any valid analysis should compare only male and female deer. For the average Pa. hunter, the harvest numbers are hard to accept given the low number of deer sightings, shots heard, and the FLIR surveys – a novel idea to count live deer. So what do the harvest numbers really show? The answer is quite different for the two different periods – before and after the new deer management team. During the 1980s and ’90s, the PGC successfully employed the deer management philosophy referred to as Maximum Sustained Yield (MSY). The principle of MSY limits the deer population to optimize reproduction. The optimum (or maximum) number of fawns for one year provides the maximum number of antlered bucks for following years. Like most wildlife managers, the PGC assumed MSY would be about 50 percent of the carrying capacity. The implementation of MSY was an overwhelming success, as deer harvests nearly doubled during the 1980s. Deer harvests stabilized in the 1990s, as both the antlered and antlerless harvests benefited from the dramatic increases in fawn production, with deer densities at 50 percent of the carrying capacity – a counterintuitive outcome. Higher deer harvests are required to offset higher reproduction in order to maintain a stable deer population. MSY also provided balanced female-to-male ratios and healthy deer populations. The pre-season population had three females to every two males, comprised of one legal antlered buck and one fawn buck. In other words at the start of the season, Pennsylvania hunters observed one antlered buck per four antlerless deer. The deer herd was very healthy, with fawn reproduction rates of 30 percent or greater in 44 of the 67 county management units, and adult female reproduction of 1.5 fawns per female or greater in 48 of the 67 county management units. Upon arrival of the new team, the harvest numbers became increasingly suspect. For some unknown reason, our unhealthy female deer population became increasingly fertile about two years prior to the arrival of the new team, providing an abundance of female deer to replenish their ranks after the new team arrived. Amazingly, 2007/2008 is the first year the new team allowed the female harvest to fall below the average female harvest during the 1990s. Another achievement by the new team was the ability to change the natural birth ratio. How can Pa. hunters continue to harvest more females than males given that: (1) males are born in a higher birth ratio, and (2) females have greater non-hunting mortality? Remember the promise of twice as many 2.5+ year-old bucks? (a 100 percent increase) After six years of antler restrictions the bean counters can only show a meager 30 percent increase. And sadly, most of our older bucks were only spikes or 4-pointers as yearlings – a dilution of the gene pool. A visit to any taxidermist will confirm our degrading gene pool compared to the 1990s. One promise the new team was able to deliver on was to change the age of harvested bucks to younger fawn bucks. The fawn buck harvest has increased 27 percent. In summary, deer harvest data is only as good as the source; bad data results in bad decisions. An independent audit of the deer harvest numbers is long overdue, or even better, how bout those deer check stations?

About USP The USP has served the grassroots sportsmen of Pennsylvania by representing tens of thousands of sportsmen for regulatory relief and legislative help. Without your continued support, the Unified Sportsmen would not be recognized today as the most influential sportsmen's organization in Pennsylvania. For this reason, we ask that you continue to support USP efforts to defend and promote our rights of hunting, fishing, trapping and shooting. These are difficult times for our nation and state. They are also difficult times for sportsmen in Pennsylvania. We need to be united to exercise vigilance against those who intend to treat our sports as mere secondary items of importance. Why Join the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania? Unified Sportsmen is leading the charge to pass HB 1512, which will guarantee the future right of all Pennsylvanian’s to hunt, fish, shoot, and trap. Unified Sportsmen is strongly opposed to any merger of the Fish and Game Commission into one organization, and will continue to fight for the independence of our state agencies. Unified Sportsmen is leading the opposition to the Game Commission’s massive deer reduction plan by adapting the following positions: Pennsylvania’s deer population is grossly overestimated by the PGC. The PGC does not have a credible system for determining deer harvests, and consequently does not have an accurate count of how many deer actually exist in the Commonwealth. There is a major discrepancy between the number of deer on private land vs. public land, as we continue to reduce an already depleted herd on public land while private land is the source of our over-population problems. The buck to doe ratio is not nearly out of balance as the PGC claims. Antler Restrictions have been found to be detrimental to the deer herd in other states, and there is no reason to believe it will be successful here. The existing deer management plan is devoid of desired deer population numbers, and is instead basing the appropriate number of deer on subjective evaluations such as the existence of desired plant species. Unified Sportsmen has challenged the Game Commission to improve the habitat on State Game Lands to sustain huntable game populations, instead of managing primarily for timber. Unified Sportsmen believe that our youth are the future of hunting, fishing, and trapping, and every effort should be made to enhance their opportunity. The Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania is a thriving organization looking to expand our membership as we seek to represent what we perceive to be the voice of Pennsylvania’s sportsmen. We welcome members as well as influential people from around the state to attend our semi-annual meetings, and offer their input on current issues. We publish a bi-monthly newspaper, Pennsylvania Woods & Waters, which is mailed to members, Legislators, and Government agencies to keep the public abreast of sportsmen’s issues. We also maintain a lobbyist in Harrisburg to take issues to our legislature when warranted. The USP believes that being politically correct is counter-productive to the quality of hunting, fishing, shooting, and trapping. Our Officers and Directors are all unpaid volunteers who are free to speak their minds without jeopardizing alliances with other factions within our state. If this sounds like an organization that represents your interests and beliefs, we would appreciate your support. Please contact our Membership Division at 717-651-6669 or visit our Membership Application page for our joining options. Our Mission The purpose of the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania is to bring attention to important issues relating to hunting, fishing, trapping and shooting. To promote and maintain high standards in conservation of our natural resources. To cooperate with State and Federal agencies and all sportsmen organizations to protect and achieve needs of both wildlife and sportsmen. To defend our heritage right to hunt, fish, trap, and to protect our Constitutional Right to keep and bear arms. To promote programs to educate the public about hunting, fishing, trapping and shooting for all future generations. Being the largest independent statewide sportsmen organization in Pennsylvania, we can accomplish a lot with just a small amount of money. All of the USP officers are highly motivated, interested, knowledgeable sportsmen and all are non salaried. Even our professional full time lobbyist in Harrisburg is a non salaried officer. However even the USP can not perform miracles, and cannot exist without you as a member.

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Another Disappointing Deer Season?

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