Over the years I have used the choke, plywood, and coat in various situations to release unwanted critters (mostly dogs) all with  success. The only time I ever got nailed was by my own beagle in my own trap. I tried to release her by having my young son hold her down by the collar. He didn't want to hurt her and didn't hold tight. 3 minutes later she was back on the rabbit and I was headed for the doctor.
 
Those are great cat pics guys

My co-worker showed me a pic of a really nice 9 point her son got the first Sat. and his 12 yr old cousin got a really nice 10 pt. out of the same stand this week.  They were hunting the western fringes of 2C in Westmoreland Co.
 
I wussed out with the wind and cold and didn't take my bow out yesterday or today.  Will probably be out for a few hrs tomorrow AM with the snow coming, I won't hold out high hopes.  Finding it hard to get the motivation.  Maybe I'll get my second wind come late season.  I am still seeing a ton of deer on my drive home every night from work and many are in or near accessible areas.  

HUNTING: Hunter Success Rates
Increasing the standard for the harvest of a legal
buck with APRs could have reduced the number
of hunters that were successful. Tracking hunter
success rates over the last 3 decades has shown
little change in the percentage of successful
hunters. Today, licensed Pennsylvania hunters
are as successful harvesting a buck under APRs
as their predecessors were 20 years ago under
the old antler restriction.
 
What's wrong with you guys, according to the PGC things haven't changed a bit. LOL-----You don't suppose they have been fibbing just a wee bit the last decade do you.

"I hunt WV and PA(2B I think) and I would rather drive an hour and a half and hunt where I do in PA then walk behind my house and hunt the 42 does and 3 scrubs that live here.  I feel like I am living in 1990's PA."
 
2B has been a big contributer to the record books, historically one of if not thee best area of the state, and that goes well back through the 90's.   Personally I hunt 2a, and there were just as many decent bucks then as now (actually took my biggest few in the late 80's early 90's, most of us didn't have "42 does" back behind the house, and I didn't proportionately see any more scrubs than I do now.  Numberswise more, but that because more bucks of 1.5 years of age were actually born and alive.
 
Needs to be balance between the extremes.  
 
As for WV, I hear a lot more hunters going to WV and other bordering states, and usually they aren't complaining as they do about Pa afterwards.   WIth this year worse than most.  
 

So, if you're hunting large tracts of private access with limited pressure, what's the reason in your opinion for the low deer numbers?  Habitat?  Predators?
 
I noticed in the areas I hunt that things were drastically different this year due to the non-existant white oak acorn crops.  It's typical that the white oaks will alternate between mediocre crops and heavy crops every other year, but for some reason there were no acorns from the white oaks this year.  We had crab apples for the first time in many years and the deer were on them pretty good through October.  After the apples dried up, things really did change and deer were not in their usual haunts due to the lack of preferred food.  I did notice that a few of the adjacent properties with red oaks seemed to have a few more deer around, since the reds did produce a few nuts this year.   
 

I dont have a clue as to why the deer populations are so poor in central Pa this year. Predators can only take so many. No coyotes on the lands I hunt but many bears. One tract has extensive food plots, also....Possibly, just the massive reduction building up to now and we are at a very low level of the population curve....WF...not good out my way now

wf,
just up the road from you on 219 the population has really gone up over the last couple of years.  inlaws live near sgl 079 and they have seen a large increase in the deer population.  even had three diff. bucks in their yard at diff. times that i would consider shooters.  after my poor season in 2b this year, has me interested enough to consider heading up there for a couple weekends next year for archery.

Was at a popular processor on Saturday for about an hour during the late afternoon/early evening time frame. While I was there his guys were standing around looking at each other with nothing to do.

A total of one deer came in while I was there. One !

A coworker of mine formerly took vacation to help out there, but has not been needed the last five years. He told me they used to process on average 1,400 to 1,600 per gun season I dropped mine off after dark on the 2nd Wednesday and I was number 398. I highly doubt 1,000 or more got dropped off between then and the end of the season.

I guess there are two ways to look at it -- half empty, deer numbers are way down and more hunters will drop from the ranks, or half full -- with a low kill, next year will be, well, a banner year.

S-10
The folks on HPA have a contest each year that runs through late season. In the 17 and older they are really going to have to have to have a banner late season to even come close to last year. Check out their number and size of bucks comparing this year to last.  Eight pages last year and so far 3 pages this year and with a definite size difference. World class hunting PGC style.

Looks like everyone that entered should win a prize with so few entries. 

Just got permission to do the necessary trimming to set a new ladder stand on some private owned ground and finished camo painting it today. Anyone can be consistently successful in Pa even now, you just have to quit working and make deer hunting a full time job. I've already limed some fruit trees and had the extension ladder in a bunch of  trees to get the view in some oak stands. I'll start spotting tomorrow if the break in the weather holds. If I wasn't so old I would be looking for some land to buy.
 
Yep, there is nothing to being successful thanks to the PGC and the QUOTE: best deer hunting in the nation.
 

the past 2 weeks at the hardware have been funny as heck... guys that have been complaining about the lack of deer since and during rifle season are now seeing them everywhere including in their yards eating their bushes ... LOL..... just gotta love it !!!!!!!!
 
Basically the same for me---   I couldn't find any does in rifle season or late archery, now I am feeding 6 - 8 everynight in the back yard ....

I'm not sure exactly where your area is, but between my co-worker and I we saw about 30 while driving the pike from Greensburg to Somerset last week.

I saw a forkhorn on Saturday.  Unfortunately it had done a swan dive off the RT. 99 bridge and broke its back.  On the bright side, if there is one, it was about a 3.5 year old with no brow tines so it won't be passing those AR illegal genes along any more.

Final this week, I have seen deer on 5 occasions. All , however, have been within the city limits of Johnstown. I guess with the crust on the snow and the snow cover, they are taking longer and foraging further to find enough to eat...WF