New PA tagging requirements

[elk yinzer]

I didn't know the tagging requirements changed with the new license vendor. I am surprised they didn't include that in the important changes section of the digest. So now we need a pen for location and a notch for date? So dumb, why not just have the location in the harvest report? I have legally tagged very few of my deer, I never have a pen. I typically use my knife point to fill out the tag as it leaves a permanent impression in the plasticky tag material, then use a pen over top of that when I get to the truck.

 

[Plebe]

technically it is unlimited. You just can't get your seventh until your report a harvest for one of your 6.

So you can have 6 open at a time.

Wow. From what I saw two seasons ago, I feel like the population in that area finally showed some recovery from the ‘01-02 rules changes. Still nowhere near years previous.

IMO, they should cut some trees and let more does live.

 

[dougell]

If you're speaking about the ANF,they should cut more trees but the treehuggers tied up the US forest service in court for years,trying to get them to stop logging.There used to be way too many deer up there and the habitat was destroyed as a result.The PGC and the Us forest service with the help of DMAP did exactly what they needed to do and it worked.I was through there a few weeks ago and a beautiful mid level understory is starting to develop.The PGC did an excellent job across the northern tier.

 

[Plebe]

If you're speaking about the ANF,they should cut more trees but the treehuggers tied up the US forest service in court for years,trying to get them to stop logging.There used to be way too many deer up there and the habitat was destroyed as a result.The PGC and the Us forest service with the help of DMAP did exactly what they needed to do and it worked.I was through there a few weeks ago and a beautiful mid level understory is starting to develop.The PGC did an excellent job across the northern tier.

Yep, ANF. I’m not seeing much age diversity of trees.

I’m no forest and wildlife biologist; it just seems to me, a coordinated approach to a healthier wildlife population and forest didn’t happen. The approach to a healthier deer herd was drastic reduction, from what I witnessed. For land that had such abundance before, it seemed they took the herd well under the carrying capacity of the land.

Sounds like more recent efforts are addressing poor understory to bolster the carrying capacity, but I fear without some tree management it isn’t the best for long term forest health.

In the meantime, they basically lost a whole generation of hunters.

Again, not an expert opinion, just my observations and thoughts.

 

[phatkaw]

I started hunting in the mountains (ANF) with my Granddad when I was 13 or 14. There was tons of deer.
Now, I pretty much only go up for bear season. I see 10 deer or less in 4 days of being in the woods from daylight 'till dark...

 

[dougell]

You won't see much age diversity because the entire northern tier was clearcut in the early 1900's,leaving an even-aged stand of timber.The ANF was being logged heavily in 1980's until the treehuggers sued and halted the logging.When they started cutting again,the surrounding habitat was so bad that the deer would maul the clearcuts.That's why for about 20 years,they had to fence every cut.It is scientifically indisputable that the herd needed to be drastically reduced.They did what needed to be done and the best hunting of our lives is just starting.I started to hunt in 1980 and my doe application was rejected.Luckily I killed a 4" spike that year.Last year my 15 year old son shot a beautiful 18" 9 point with a bow and at least 7 more doe,all on land DMAP'd and open to the public.The hunting is way better today compared to when I was a kid and it get's better every year.

 

[Hall17]

You won't see much age diversity because the entire northern tier was clearcut in the early 1900's,leaving an even-aged stand of timber.The ANF was being logged heavily in 1980's until the treehuggers sued and halted the logging.When they started cutting again,the surrounding habitat was so bad that the deer would maul the clearcuts.That's why for about 20 years,they had to fence every cut.It is scientifically indisputable that the herd needed to be drastically reduced.They did what needed to be done and the best hunting of our lives is just starting.I started to hunt in 1980 and my doe application was rejected.Luckily I killed a 4" spike that year.Last year my 15 year old son shot a beautiful 18" 9 point with a bow and at least 7 more doe,all on land DMAP'd and open to the public.The hunting is way better today compared to when I was a kid and it get's better every year.

I would agree. I certainly don't see as many deer but there are WAY LESS people in the woods now than 20 years ago where we hunt in rifle so less deer are being pushed around. I can assure you there is plenty of deer sign where we hunt which is either in or around the clear cuts/select cuts. Some of these cuts are 20 years old and others a little less. I can walk through them and find dozens of beds and plenty of deer sign. Just no one driving them out anymore. There is usually 3 of us that get two DMAP tags each and we can fill them in 3 days of hunting without too much trouble in the last few days of rifle season. We typically do not see many buck the last few days when were are up but I can only assume they are in thick cover and not moving much. The quality of buck being shot in archery season at our camp in Potter has gone way up from years ago. Nice 120-130" mountain deer where as that was a camp record way back, at least for us.

 

[Plebe]

You won't see much age diversity because the entire northern tier was clearcut in the early 1900's,leaving an even-aged stand of timber.The ANF was being logged heavily in 1980's until the treehuggers sued and halted the logging.When they started cutting again,the surrounding habitat was so bad that the deer would maul the clearcuts.That's why for about 20 years,they had to fence every cut.It is scientifically indisputable that the herd needed to be drastically reduced.They did what needed to be done and the best hunting of our lives is just starting.I started to hunt in 1980 and my doe application was rejected.Luckily I killed a 4" spike that year.Last year my 15 year old son shot a beautiful 18" 9 point with a bow and at least 7 more doe,all on land DMAP'd and open to the public.The hunting is way better today compared to when I was a kid and it get's better every year.

The hunting is way better now...for trophy deer.

That works for me, but to get there, a community of hunters who didn’t have that mindset about hunting were put out.

IMO, that wasn’t necessary, had the process to achieve where we’re now heading been better managed.

I absolutely know there are more nice bucks now than in the past.

I hunted two years ago, only two days with the bow and a day and a half with the gun.

I was surprised at the number of deer and quality of bucks I saw. I let two shootable bucks go and saw several smaller bucks with the bow. One was quite a nice buck but I already had a bigger buck tagged in NY, had plans to gun hunt with family, and hadn’t been in the tree long, so I held out. I bumped into a dandy while gun hunting, but got caught off guard and missed the opportunity.

Those deer were up there with my best PA buck from before the restrictions and herd reductions.

Yet...long ago, I took my first buck ever in the forests of PA, a 17” 8pt. It isn’t my biggest PA public land buck, but I celebrated that accomplishment with a camp full of happy successful hunters and a pole full of bucks.

The hunting was pretty good back then, too.

 

[GreginPA]

License came in today. Nearly threw the license away because they tuck it in a little slot so your name shows through the envelope window. Also, not a fan of the green.

 

[dougell]

I would agree. I certainly don't see as many deer but there are WAY LESS people in the woods now than 20 years ago where we hunt in rifle so less deer are being pushed around. I can assure you there is plenty of deer sign where we hunt which is either in or around the clear cuts/select cuts. Some of these cuts are 20 years old and others a little less. I can walk through them and find dozens of beds and plenty of deer sign. Just no one driving them out anymore. There is usually 3 of us that get two DMAP tags each and we can fill them in 3 days of hunting without too much trouble in the last few days of rifle season. We typically do not see many buck the last few days when were are up but I can only assume they are in thick cover and not moving much. The quality of buck being shot in archery season at our camp in Potter has gone way up from years ago. Nice 120-130" mountain deer where as that was a camp record way back, at least for us.

I agree.What hunters see or don't see while hunting is not a good indication of what's actually there.Nobody is pushing the deer and there's more food for the deer that are there.A well fed deer is a harder deer to hunt because he doesn't have to be on his feet searching.We strictly hunt DMAP'd properties that are open to the public and rarely see another hunter.

Last year on Thanksgiving day I scouted a new spot where my son and I had DMAP tags.By the end of the first day,he killed two doe and I killed one.Most of my time was spent trying to get deer to move past him so I only saw a dozen or so.We never saw another hunter or heard a close shot.He lost track after about 45.The next afternoon,I parked in a different spot to sit out the last hour and kiled another doe before I even got to where I planned on sitting.As I was pulling out I ran into the only hunter I saw in two days.He sat from dark til dark both days and never saw a single deer.

 

[Plebe]

I agree.What hunters see or don't see while hunting is not a good indication of what's actually there.Nobody is pushing the deer and there's more food for the deer that are there.A well fed deer is a harder deer to hunt because he doesn't have to be on his feet searching.We strictly hunt DMAP'd properties that are open to the public and rarely see another hunter.

Last year on Thanksgiving day I scouted a new spot where my son and I had DMAP tags.By the end of the first day,he killed two doe and I killed one.Most of my time was spent trying to get deer to move past him so I only saw a dozen or so.We never saw another hunter or heard a close shot.He lost track after about 45.The next afternoon,I parked in a different spot to sit out the last hour and kiled another doe before I even got to where I planned on sitting.As I was pulling out I ran into the only hunter I saw in two days.He sat from dark til dark both days and never saw a single deer.

What hunters say they saw isn't necessarily a good indictor of what they actually saw, so its hard to go by that too.

Can you hunt bucks on the DMAP lands? I haven't got a bead on those properties.

BTW, it sounds like your son is quite a hunter, and at 15. I think thats awesome you've that time, bond, and shared passion.

 

[Hall17]

What hunters say they saw isn't necessarily a good indictor of what they actually saw, so its hard to go by that too.

Can you hunt bucks on the DMAP lands? I haven't got a bead on those properties.

BTW, it sounds like your son is quite a hunter, and at 15. I think thats awesome you've that time, bond, and shared passion.

Yeah you can hunt buck on DMAP areas.

 

[Plebe]

Yeah you can hunt buck on DMAP areas.

Thanks, maybe I'll look into those. Hard not to hunt the mtns I grew up hunting, having so little time to devote to out of state. But I had three hunters set basically under me during gun...so...I "didn't see another hunter" is music to my ears, if I can carve out a bit more time to try it out.

 

[dougell]

What hunters say they saw isn't necessarily a good indictor of what they actually saw, so its hard to go by that too.

Can you hunt bucks on the DMAP lands? I haven't got a bead on those properties.

BTW, it sounds like your son is quite a hunter, and at 15. I think thats awesome you've that time, bond, and shared passion.

Yes,you can hunt buck on those properties.You can extra tags and start shooting doe on the first day of rifle season as well.The hunting has never been better.We kill deer from the fiorst day of Oct all through Jan.Couldn't do that when I was a kid.Here's a few pictures from last year.All open to the public and no hunters.

 

[Apex7]

Just bought my non resident PA license last night and I found it odd that I didn't need to show any proof that I possess a hunting license from my home state (NY) or that I have completed a bow hunter safety course. When I went for my first non res hunting license for Connecticut a few years ago I needed to send them my bowhunter safety certificate before they would sell the license. I guess PA still believes in people's honesty.

PA's requirements seem pretty simple to me, easy to comply when you know what they want.

Pa doesn't require a bow hunting certificate or safty coures to bow hunt in Pa.

 

[dougell]

Thanks, maybe I'll look into those. Hard not to hunt the mtns I grew up hunting, having so little time to devote to out of state. But I had three hunters set basically under me during gun...so...I "didn't see another hunter" is music to my ears, if I can carve out a bit more time to try it out.

It's a little late now because they go fast.However,get on the PGC website and click on deer management assistance.There's a list of every property that's DMAP'd in every country.Alot of private landowners don't list them on the site but DCNR,ANF and most timber and conservations groups do.Probably 90% of the properties we hunt are either owned by timber companies of nature conservancies.We find new DMAP properties almost every year and it's fun because you constantly have to scout and learn these new areas.As a non-resident,you don't have to wait top get them either.

 

[Plebe]

It's a little late now because they go fast.However,get on the PGC website and click on deer management assistance.There's a list of every property that's DMAP'd in every country.Alot of private landowners don't list them on the site but DCNR,ANF and most timber and conservations groups do.Probably 90% of the properties we hunt are either owned by timber companies of nature conservancies.We find new DMAP properties almost every year and it's fun because you constantly have to scout and learn these new areas.As a non-resident,you don't have to wait top get them either.

Thanks a million. Really appreciate the info.

 

[dougell]

I'm not real familiar with Mckean or Warren county as far as DMAP goes but Elk county has a pile of properties enrolled.Most of the state forests are DMAP'd as well as Collins Pines properties,Seneca resource etc.They go on sale the day licenses do.You have to ready at midnight to get them because they sell out by morning.It's a good opportunity for a non-resident.