Statewide their impact may be marginal but in the areas where they have settled ( such as where Bings and where I live ) Their impact is significant. When you see 10-15 buggies surrounding a block of woods setting up for a deer drive knowing a fawn is in as much trouble as a buck or adult doe they can and do have a huge local inpact just as EHD has in areas where it is found. They hunt and fish as a way of life, they keep everything they catch and kill everything they can. Local landowners post to try to keep them out but they apparently confuse POSTED with WELCOME in this area. I no longer hunt areas where they are active because scouting and spotting has shown it is not worthwhile.

thats perfectly understandable S-10. I have seen them at farmers markets getting into cars and say wtf ? people tell me they hire drivers to get there. ok i understand that, but when i hear they also hire drivers and roll up could be anywhere and just desimate an area i have to say where ? i have never seen this. some people talk like they are locust, oh crap Amish.
i look at the harvest report for what its worth, WMU 2F 5400 buck one of the lowest in the state  WMU 2B 4500 buck and 17000 doe ahhh to me thats a no brainer. then you hear stories of the guys wife who packs his underware in his gun case then he comes back from "camp" and says you didnt pack any underware. WHY is your wife packing your gear?

spoonchucker 

Since hunting& fishing would not be "womanly" activities, you can eliminate at least 40 percent from that.

They may be "womanly" activities spoonie, but that doesn't stop them from getting tags.
 
Like Bings, I hunt around the Amish quite a bit.  Like he and S-10 said they put on drives and are often quite effective.  I used to get pizzed off when they'd tromp through my property at first light on the first day of the rifle season as I don't like seeing anyone for the first two or three hours of daylight.  But that went away after the property behind us was posted.  However, I never really had a problem with them harvesting critters out of season or with using illegal methods.
 
My patience threshold is much greater with sustenance harvesting than with trophy hunters...although, as noted, sustenance hunters can put on much more of a hurt on a game population.  Around here...that's not much of a problem yet.
 
Fishing, on the other hand, is a different story.

The main difference I see, as mentioned, is the Amish hunt/fish for a totally different reason... not many of the ones I know even think or worry about getting "trophies" they want the meat for the family dinner table.. and I imagine it's the same when it's fishing.. the food.. not the size .
 
The Amish do not seem to be as hell-bent on bragging about the trophy deer or fish they harvest..
 
seeing 10-15 buggies is not much different then when I see 10-15 or more cars/trucks in a SGL parking lot. around here..  other than on the SGL,  the hunters , for the most part, are all going in different directions and different nearby locations to set-up and wait ..
the Amish , for the most part, put on "drives" as their means of hunting deer..
Probably a much better "percentage" way of successful deer hunting... when meat is the goal of the hunt.
 
I know "English" families that have tags for every member of the family too and fill as many of them as they can, and I am sure some of their "wives" never venture into the woods but have a tag filled for them..... 
 
and I hear as many Amish guys complaining about a lack of deer as "English" deer hunters.
 
I agree with some of those posting above... I think it's just another way of complaining and blaming somone or something about deer numbers and not wanting to give credit to the fact that "drives" (like in the old days for the "English") are a very effect way of hunting whitetails....

My experience says that in areas where they are concentrated they do have an impact, both fishing and hunting. If it's legal and can be eaten they kill/keep it. How many here would keep a stringer full of 4" crappie??? 
 
But let's not hate them, who would Harry watch peeing while eating his ice cream without them?

There is an Amish settlement up near my camp and in archery, a van would bring about ten to twelve of them up and they would set up a tent camp in the woods.  Those guys hunted all day, every day for two weeks.  At that time, the van brought replacements and took the first crew out.  The second crew went for another two weeks. Then they were replaced.  I dont think they missed one minute of the open season.  I'm sure they put a hurting on the deer there, but these people hunt to eat.  I hunt for fun.  So, while I may not particularly like it, I can accept it.
 
Plus, I can jump in my truck and be hunting 100 miles away in two hours.

spoonchucker

Well there is an estimated Amish population of 63,000 for the entire state. Since hunting& fishing would not be "womanly" activities, you can eliminate at least 40 percent from that. Then probly another 5-10% at least that are too young or too old ( fishing ), and 10-15% ( hunting ).  That leaves the Amish holding 3-4% of the total licenses in Penna at MOST. As there are also no doubt some that are too busy farming or working other jobs to fish.

You decide how much of an impact ( overall ) that they have on fish/game populations compared to the rest of us. Granted in areas where their population is denser, the impact will be higher. But is it really as high as percieved?

By that logic, no one should be concerned with gang violence in urban areas because they comprise such a small segment of the population of a city, a state and the country. 
 
Ask the folks in Chicago if having a concentrated population of a certain subset is an issue and see what their answers is.
 
BTW, I see where they are striking the bullet tax from the proposal, but keeping the gun tax.  I guess that is because the thugs go to the sporting goods stores to buy a gun, but they get their bullets on the street.  The gun tax is supposed to bring in $600,000 (for both it was $1 million) to be used to help defray the healthcare costs of shooting victims -- isn't that what Obamacare was for -- to pay for health insurance for the uninsured.  Of course the person proposing the legislation wants $2 million dollars to go for that purpose.  Somehow that math doesn't work.  Neither does the plan.

Just another excuse for the antis to use.

For all you guys that burn your doe tags, the Amish make up the loss.

Clarion County has good Amish population as well. Heck, even one out by me has a deer farm up and running.
 
 
 
I've always wondered why the Amish don't raise more cattle? What difference would it make if its venison or beef when it comes to preserving the meat without refrigeration/freezing?