Extra day for archers

Nice! We didn't have enough time as it was...

I heard a rumor they are changing the state bird to the ""KillDeer"".....

They do that from time to time depending on how the calendar may fall.  Few years ago flintlock ended on Monday because of MLK day.
 

It was added because it is Veteran’s Day.
 
The best idea I have heard for the day is a guy offering to take a Veteran to has camp and property to hunt for the day.
 
Instead of grousing around about the extra day it would be nice if some of the negative people would follow suit and turn the day into a positive experience for a Vet, perhaps even a disabled Vet. I am sure anyone interested could find a Vet that they could take hunting for the day. Wouldn’t that turn your Veteran’s Day into just what Veteran’s Day is really all about?
 
It wouldn’t even have to be an archery hunt, you could take a Veteran on a pheasant, grouse or rabbit hunt. I too plan to use that day to take a Veteran hunting and lunch on Veteran’s Day.
 R.S. Bodenhorn

I can't believe one day caused such a stir....

IMO our archery season goes out too early and this year was going to be especially early just because of the way the calendar falls.  I know it is only a small gain, but I am glad to see that at least we get to hunt until the 12th instead of the 10th. 

If we keep losing hunters perhaps we can have an archery season structured much like Ohio someday (including Sundays) 

Funny---according to the QDMA reports most other states have been doing quite well with hunter numbers by comparison to PA. Of course we have two sets of deer hunter numbers for Pa. depending on what claim is trying to be sold.

ORIGINAL: Esox_Hunter

Anyone else notice that the last day of the early archery season is Monday, November 12 this year?  I just thought this was a bit odd, but I am not complaining since I will be off on the 12th for Vets Day!!

Darn government workers.....

Almost as bad as retires for the amount of time they have off.

ORIGINAL: eyesandgillz

ORIGINAL: Esox_Hunter

Anyone else notice that the last day of the early archery season is Monday, November 12 this year?  I just thought this was a bit odd, but I am not complaining since I will be off on the 12th for Vets Day!!

Darn government workers.....

 
 
So what are you trying to say?
 
I get to enjoy hunting on Columbus Day, Veterans Day, and MLK day every year.  Doesn't everyone get those days off

Sundays could sure add a few days for those aging hunters....

and to borrow a thought many here keep mentioning.. increasing the harvest of what game animals that are left as much as Sunday hunting would do, may actually increase the decline even more rapidly...

lack of game , I believe, is still being listed as #1 reason to quit.... ??

More game harvested.. less out there.... thus more un-happy hunters quiting....

You increase the days you increase the harvest. Very simple. Might not be a incresae compared to another year but it def will increase since there will be animals killed on the extra days.

ORIGINAL: rollcaster

You increase the days you increase the harvest. Very simple. Might not be a incresae compared to another year but it def will increase since there will be animals killed on the extra days.

 
Okay, let's run with that.
 
Let's say that the whatever weapon season opens on September 1st and runs until the next August 31st -- one full year or 365 days, the maximum amount of days there can possibly be.
 
You have an antlerless tag for WMU XYZ.  At 7:01 on September 1st, you kill (harvest, whatever) a deer and utilize that tag.  You are now done for the year and it does not matter that there are 364 more days available does it?  How does increased days increase the harvest in that scenario?
 
It does not.  When that tag is used, it is used, and it doesn't matter if that is the first minute of the season or the last.
 
The PGC says that they control the herd size based on the number of antlerless tags issued.  All that would need to be done is to adjust the tag allocations based on success ratios in accordance with the number of hunter/days needed for success.

ORIGINAL: S-10

Without a doubt increasing the days to hunt increases the harvest of the targeted species. With deer, when they went to a shortened split season they had to increase the allocation of tags to make up for the fewer deer that would have been killed. The only way increased days would not increase the harvest would be if everyone was to kill their permitted amount every year on the first day, and since most don't kill every extra day they are out there increases their chances..

With Turkey they decrease the length of seasons to compensate for areas or years with low populations.
They have done the same thing with Woodcock
With geese they want to kill more so they have added days to the season

All the doe allocations are is the mechanics they use to make up for increased or decreased kill as a result of added days, seasons, or weapons. They could issue a billion tags but if nobody went hunting it would make no difference.

The more time you spend hunting the better chance you have of being successful. That is just common sense.

I'll disagree.

Using round and fictional numbers for illustration purposes only (using firearms season and antlerless to keep it simple)..................

Average hunter = 3 days of deer hunting.  With split season, that is reduced to 2 days. 

Two days X 8 hours per day = 16 hunter hours.

If the success rate is 20% that means that it takes 80 hunter hours per harvested deer.

If the goal is 100,000 harvested antlerless deer, then it would require 8,000,000 hunter hours to reach that goal.

The 8,000,000 becomes the constant.

If it now takes 500,000 tags to provide that 8,000,000 hunter hour, if number of days "hunted," which for this illustration stand at 2 days per six opportunity days, then the allocation would need to drop to 250,000 tags if the season went to six opportunity days and 4 hunted days using a linear progression.  In reality, because the harvest is not level loaded and most will be harvested in the current time frame anyway, it proably would not be a straight one-to-one decrease.  An algorithim program could do the calculations to give a more precise formula for how many tags needed reduced per added opportunty day.

Its math, it works out.  Extra time does not need to equal extra harvest because that time is actually dictated by the amoutn of hunter hours in concert with success ratio.

The bigger question is, however, do you trust the PGC to decrease allocations in the correct proportions in order to offset the extra opportunity hours and thereby the hunter hours?
 
Since turkey tags are not allocated, everyone gets one with their general license and they are not restricted to a certain WMU where they can be used and there are no tags for geese, those two examples are non-arguments.

ORIGINAL: RSB

Actually an extra day of archery season would most likely not require any adjustments to the antlerless allocations. If archery harvests see a slight increase it simply means there are slightly fewer deer available during the firearms season which in turn results in a slightly lower harvest during the firearms season. So, it is all a wash in regards to the total deer harvest picture.
 

 
Agree totally and have been making that point for four years now. But, we do have a few commissioners that don't see it that way.