Hey Wayne

Was there ever any doubt?    I watched the recording of the meeting.  I saw that - where they said 2a,  2c and don't remember but think one or two others?   Not surprised in the least.   Shortly prior to this they were requesting all along that ALL units be concurrent which is definitely their ultimate overall goal.   I guess they feel "ALL" of them is not an option the board will accept, so trying to chisel away at it.
 
Id like to be the first to tell Mr. Rosenberry what he can do with that suggestion.
 
I wish some of the board would stand up and come right out and say the same.
 
As long as he and likely a coupla others are employed there, there will be a constant push to go in the "less deer" direction here and across the state.  
 
Sooner or later, if a majority of this one doesn't already, another board will see things the same as rosenberry.    We have a liberal governor who has environmentalists and antihunters stacked from top to bottom of his list of staff.    That  doesn't seem to bode well for us when it comes to our next pgc commissioners..  
 
 
As for the re-alignment of the late firearms season, I don't know a lot about it and the exact boundaries etc. compared to whats proposed, Ive read some about it in past but don't recall particulars, a little far north of my stomping grounds.   So cant really comment.   Although Ive heard complaints about it, even maybe one or two on this board previously due to too many deer being taken in rural areas vs. urban/suburban?     If that's the case, then again, Im not surprised its being proposed.   This is the same pgc deer team, different year.

No I didn't catch that.   I thought I heard it mentioned about archery bear and deer overlap, but didn't hear anything about flintlocks.   I was listening and doing other stuff though so probably just missed it.    I know they were in some cases also just throwing things around, some of which wont even be on the agenda for January, just discussion in general.   Don't know about that particular issue.    Will be plenty of time to hear more on it I guess if it goes any further, and to give thoughts after the Jan. meeting until April.  
 
What did you hear and your thoughts on it?

dpms
Plus they want to go back to 2B WMU for the late firearms season instead of Allegheny County. 

I can't hate this enough.
 
The deer population in the areas of 2B I hunt took a drastic hit over the last 7 or 8 years with this.  One property that I hunt that was previously pretty open to most who asked permission was posted shut to all but a few because of this season.
 
This season brings out the worst in slob behavior I've ever seen while hunting. 
 
I know a couple of landowners in 2B outside of Allegheny that will be absolutely jacked if this happens.  I would imagine that going back to this will mean loss of more property available to hunters.  

I think a better solution for the late season - even better than shrinking 2B - would be to manage by township within Allegheny County.  Maybe even extend to a few townships outside of Allegheny IF further reduction is needed.  
 
Let the herd continue to stabilize in those townships that have the capacity for carrying deer for a few years, and open the townships that need the reductions.  
 
BTW, Essox, we've talked about this before.  I used to be rsquared on here, but messed up all my login info awhile back.  

While I have no stake in it up there, that would seem to make good sense to me gillz. 
 
I don't think schlemmer supports changing back to what the deer team wants, but favors keeping as is judging by his comments.  
 
Keeping it as is may seem ok for now, but it really seems to be in need of addressing once and for all to put it to bed by restructuring.  Maybe something along the lines of what you proposed.
 
Problem is, just like the "concurrent seasons" elsewhere, the deer team is gonna keep plugging away at it over and over no matter how many times the idea gets voted down by the commissioners until there is a majority on board and they get their way.   There are only two outcomes that are likely in the not too distant future.  They either put an exec director in there when houghs temporary stint is over, which im sure will be soon, that will make changes to deer management staff, or every single year is a risk of having new commissioners come in and swing the balance of the board towards something I don't think any of us wants to see. 
 
If we had the board in place from just a few years back, there is no doubt the entire state would be concurrent, we'd have even more tags in place than we do now, and the sra sections would be huge areas compared to what they are now.   There was once, not too long ago, a proposal that made the sw sra area take up such a huge area, I was in amazement when they showed it on the map.  Included all of 2b parts of other wmus including about half of 2a. lol.   It was immense and it was a scary thought that it was even being proposed by pgc staff.
 
Considering how many well known antideer audubonners etc. are on Wolfs staff list now, we're liable to have the entire friggin state as an sra soon.
 
 
  

wayne c
What did you hear and your thoughts on it?

 
Delaney just asked for information about including flintlocks as legal for bear during the archery bear season. He said he heard from a few folks that wanted the opportunity to hunt bear with flintlocks in a special season of some sort. I don't see that going anywhere but moving archery bear to overlap with the last week of archery deer may get some traction. Not sure how most archers would react? Would they like to be able to shoot a bear if they see one or would they prefer the woods remain as they are during the rut week when many focus on deer. 
 
One thing that is odd is that Delaney is one of the commissioners that keeps saying he is concerned about the antlered deer harvest shifting to earlier. Staff is saying that overlapping bear may increase that harvest of deer that week. 
 
I don't really care either way at this point but need to see more info which will hopefully come if any of this gets traction. 

Asking 'cause I really don't know since I don't hunt bears and don't know many that do . . .
 
Do most/many archery bear hunters do drives like in gun season?  Or is it more of a still hunting type deal?  Don't imagine in PA sitting in a stand all day waiting for natural movement would be real productive since you can't hunt over bait.