PGC future?

Horrible

Nay!

barely acceptable
 

B.T. you know you're not going to keep that resolution so go ahead and get it off your chest, it's bad to hold things in, so they tell me.

Chitty

Gee, there seems to be some unhappiness with the PGC.

Imagine that!!!

Go for it dpms!

I think deer management has been the biggest sore spot with hunters since AR/HR began.

Locally/isolated areas I hunt in 2D seem to be rebounding since we went to the split season. Don't hunt 2B as much the past two or three years but same there since the month and a half gun season for does has been eliminated outside of Allegheny.

The financial crunch they're facing makes a lot tough for them. Pensions and retirement benes are killing them. No license fee increase with huge decline in hunting numbers. Cuts to the pheasant program are tough but understandable given the circumstances.

Don't hunt game lands or state land much other than a few times a year for pheasants, so not really qualified to speak to management there, though I can certainly understand hunter outrage with fees for game lands usage that are being talked about.

For the past 10 years it's been mostly deer and waterfowl for me, and PGC has very little to do with waterfowl other than setting seasons. In the south zone seasons are pretty much the same from year to year though this year duck season is a little later.

So overall pretty satisfied personally but I can understand why many are not.

dpms
Seems to be many negative opinions. Lets explore them some. What are they for those with overall negative views?

I hunt in 2C...no where the numbers of deer there use to be when I started seeing almost 12-20 deer was pretty common lucky to see 2-4 tops. AR sucks since it was passed.. I hunt for food not a hat rake for bragging rights.

People abuse that mentor deer hunting. Needs to go back to 12yos at least for big game.

Cant complain about small game/trapping though as those critters kinda exploded back up in population as deer and turkey are about the only thing people here hunt.

Pheasant program is a waste. I seen more crushed on the road then I flushed out. If they wanna make more money up the general license, add a pheasant stamp, and a State Game Lands stamp. Yea its all turning to pay to play but everything else is...I do pretty well at trapping so i usually end up in the green after a season.

Mountian Man

People abuse that mentor deer hunting. Needs to go back to 12yos at least for big game.

People abuse the regulations in most seasons. The highest level of abuse and violations occurs in general firearms seasons by adults.  As is the case with all season, lets not let a few bad apples spoil a great program.
 
Not saying this is the case with you, but many oppose the MY program cause deer numbers are lower. Connect the dots on the relationship between the two.
 
The Mentored Youth program had been proven safe and has provided many great experiences for those that participate. The harvest by MY is minimal.

psu_fish
 
2) The HR/AR has ruined it for many hunters. Kids don't want to hunt when they see 2 deer in a 2 week season. And then they have the nerve to blame it on video games, Facebook, etc. When I was 12, I couldn't wait to go hunting, cause we would see a pile of deer.

Certainly part of the reason for the decline in deer hunter numbers.
 
Another thing to consider is that while deer numbers are gaining in many places again, sightings in deer season are not. The perception of many is that if they see less in rifle season, there are less deer. Without pressure, deer travel very little during the winter months and bed close to feed. As hunter numbers keep decreasing, we will see less deer during rifle season, even if deer numbers are good.
 
Case in point. First day of deer season in 2A, our group of 3 hunters saw 6 deer. Second day our group of 3 hunters saw 4 deer. First Saturday of deer season, the farms up the road had some driving pressure, our group of 3 hunters saw over 35 deer.

One of the negatives for me is I believe the PGC overprotects certain predators. We now have almost  twice as many bears in this state as we did when the PGC said 10,000 was a population goal. Every year, the PGC says we should have a record harvest. We don't and the populations grows again. We now have resident bear populations in areas they never where and never should be. As prey species decrease, predators become more of a controlling factor and the need for hunting decreases. Antihunter orgs have been pressuring game agencies to protect predators and/or reintroduce them for that reason. 
 
Fisher populations have exploded statewide and the PGC has been slow to increase opportunities. Fishers are hell on nesting ground birds and our turkey and grouse populations are decreasing.
 
 

There is no path for the PGC to stay viable and independent. They keep shrinking the base with ever-changing deer management policies, and now proposing to hammer whose are left with user fees and stamps.
 
 
I also do not understand why people automatically think PGC will merge into DCNR. PFBC and PGC can merge, and leave DCNR out of it.

dpms

Mountian Man

People abuse that mentor deer hunting. Needs to go back to 12yos at least for big game.

People abuse the regulations in most seasons. The highest level of abuse and violations occurs in general firearms seasons by adults.  As is the case with all season, lets not let a few bad apples spoil a great program. Not saying this is the case with you, but many oppose the MY program cause deer numbers are lower. Connect the dots on the relationship between the two. The Mentored Youth program had been proven safe and has provided many great experiences for those that participate. The harvest by MY is minimal.

Yea I find it hard to believe these 4-6 year olds are really shooting a rifle at a buck.

Mountian Man
Yea I find it hard to believe these 4-6 year olds are really shooting a rifle at a buck.

It's really not as hard to help a kid shoot a deer as many imagine it to be.  Sitting in a 2 man ladder stand with a railing or a ground blind with shooting sticks makes it very practical for young kids to be able to kill a deer.  
 
A .243 in a youth size/model is low recoil and lightweight.  Start 'em out on a bench and progress to shooting sticks, with a little assistance in the hold.  
 
I didn't start my oldest son on the mentored tag till he was 8, but several of his friends; my daughter's friends; and my youngest son's friends started at age 5 or 6 with a crossbow and/or .243 and killed deer.