Penn’s Outdoors

The Pennsylvania Game Commission has released it 2007-2008 deer harvest estimates. There aren’t any real surprises and nothing to settle the debate about the quality of deer hunting in Penn’s Woods. 

The Pennsylvania Game Commission estimates that that 323,070 deer were harvested in the state’s 2007-08 seasons.  And as expected, that number is down from last year.  Specifically, it is down by 11 percent. 

Numbers are down for both doe and buck, but especially buck.

Hunters took 109,200 antlered deer in the 2007-08 seasons, down 19 percent from the previous license year’s harvest of 135,290.  Also, hunters harvested 213,870 antlerless deer in 2007-08, a five percent drop from the 226,270 antlerless deer taken in 2006-07.

The opening day seems to be the biggest culprit according to the Game Commission.

“Report cards sent in by hunters show the antlered deer harvest on the opening day, Nov. 26, dropped more than 50 percent from 2006. Daily harvests for the rest of the two-week season, Nov. 27-Dec. 8, were similar to 2006.

“The firearms season’s opening day antlerless deer harvest also dropped nearly 50 percent from 2006.  However, the antlerless harvest throughout the remainder of the two-week season increased and, in due course, erased some of the opening day’s harvest shortfall.”

The weather was horrible for the first day of hunting in most of Pennsylvania.  While the Game Commission’s release did not mention the weather, I’ve already heard from some sources that they may be quick to attribute the significant decrease in harvested deer to the weather and not current deer management strategies.  Of course, many hunting organizations will have a different opinion.