Radio Smart Talk for Wednesday, November 23:
For thousands of Pennsylvanians, there is no bigger issue in the state than the number of deer roaming Penns Woods. For non-hunters or those who live outside areas where deer hunting is king, that may be hard to believe.
The former head of the Pennsylvania Game Commission's Deer Management Section once said that the deer population affected every man, woman, and child in the state. That came at a time only a few years ago when the large deer herd was destroying forests, exacting large amounts of damage farmers' crops and resulting in some 40,000 vehicle-deer collisions a year.
A decade and many angry complaints later, there are some hunters who claim their favorite pasttime has been stolen away from them -- that the Game Commission's science has killed off too many deer. They often cite numbers that show the number of hunting licenses sold is in decline and say part of the reason is hunters are frustrated and have given up. Much of their evidence is anecdotal -- they don't see near as many deer in the woods as they used to. The Game Commission says that true but that the deer population is more in line with what the habitat can sustain.
On Wednesday's Radio Smart Talk, the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, Carl Roe, will discuss deer management and a few other issues.
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comments
I fully support the healthy management of the deer herd in PA where it is threatening the health of the state's forest ecosystems.
As to retaining hunters, it is very frustrating as land owners in northern Centre county that we are year after year unable to get doe tags because we are classed in with Potter and Tioga county. Any relief in sight?
A previous guest on Smart Talk acknowledged a significant portion of game lands come from donations by conservation groups - overwhelmingly non-hunter groups.
Rich B….. CPCU
With hunting on the decline and the very funding of the game comission thus in jeopardy, wouldn't it be more reasonable to call our "gamelands" multi-use areas and charge user fees to other outdoors people like mountain bikers, horseback riders, geocachers, cross-country skiers, hikers and birders? The game comission should recognize that these outdoors enthusiasts are already using the game lands and most are more than willing to pay a fee to help preserve these open spaces.
As far as the deer herd it is fine. The hunters shooting near tame deer on properties with elegant food plots are happy. It is the public land hunters who actually hunt and have a hard time finding a deer because they are on food plot private farms.
It is time the PGC limits what can be planted on these food plots, so the deer still need to move naturally. Lets quit letting hunters slaughter farm raised deer and get PA. deer and bear hunting back to fair chase. It is well overdo.
If you think State Gamelands should be restricted to hunters then start paying taxes on them. Allowing non-hunters to use the land for hiking, birding etc is minimal compensation for tax free status - I am pretty sure private hunting reserves pay property taxes.
There are many state gamelands where the PGC officers will confiscate a bike at gunpoint, while allowing a hunter in a four wheeler or even a 4-wheel drive truck to use the same road. Many bicyclists will happily pay a fee to use gamelands on these roads, or reasonably approved trails.
http://www.acsl-pa.org/
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