Its safe to say that the deer population here in the City and Suburbs of Pittsburgh is very stable, and can be considered high in some neighborhoods.

But what about in rural Pennsylvania?

As an avid hunter, I head to northern Pennsylvania for the annual hunting season. This year was absolutely the worst year I have ever had in the 25 years that I have been hunting. In an area where I used to see herds of deer, I only saw two fleeting tails over a six day period.

And I am not the only one. The five other guys that hunt with me experienced the same thing. Neighbors all across the northern tier have experienced a dearth of deer. This seems to be a phenomenon from northern Butler to Meadville, across the State.

Over the last 4 years, I have noticed groupings of deer steadily declining. In years past, herds of deer ranging from 5 to 10 were common. Now, your lucky to see two in a group.

I believe that the extinction of the deer in Pennsylvania is directly tied to the bureaucratic mess-up in the Pennsylvania Game Commission, specifically, when the rules were changed from one-deer during either buck or antlerless deer season.

The PA Game comission contends it is to save the forest from over-browsing and to protect the deer from starvation. In 25 years, I have NEVER seen a starving deer. And I have never seen forests mowed down by them either. I think that logging and paper interests have lobbied the Game Commission to intentionally slaughter OUR deer to protect forestry produce.

The effect is that today, there is no buck season or antlerless season, only a combined deer season where you can shoot two deer anytime. The net result has been a complete massacre of the deer herd, dare I say to the point of near extinction.

The Tribune Review had an article on the first day of hunting that talked about the problem and how it has impacted businesses in the rural areas of the state. In the past, nearly every hunter that went north went twice: for a week during buck, and 3-4 days for doe. The money we spent was double than it is today where we only go for one week. Its no wonder businesses in these rural areas are suffering.

Not to mention all the good hunting in snow was lost to an early season.

I'm curious about the other hunters out there. Do you hunt in rural Pennsylvania, and how was the hunting this year for you???

see
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/letters/send/s_54...

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/search/s_539722.html