How would you "grade" your State?

[Nut]

For my state I would give a B. Not much big game except for whitetails and turkey
Well waterfowling is not bad.

Politics do not play much in the management decisions here. But you can't please everybody either. The deer herds and turkey flocks are really not bad once you get away from NW part of state (where do I live )
Our seasons are great in my humble opinion.
I can chase whitetails from Oct 6th to Jan 31st. Our turkey seasons were increased by 7 days each season too.

Heck a non-resident would be able to come here and hunt a whitetail for a $111. ($90 lic. $20 tag, over the counter too)
We do not have a draw for anything except for some management hunts.
We are lucky also to have alot of public lands to hunt. Some of them are pretty much like pvt land during the workweek.

 

[lilbiggun]

Tough choice but I would go with a C (I'm in a good mood). We have a seriuos predator problem that the Gov wont do anything about (he doesnt want to piss off the huggers in CA) I have a bad additude towards the guide law. and the tier 2 (subsistance) drawing needs some work. As a resident they do have a pretty good bag limit for various animals though.

 

[Shaky]

I am not much for giving a "grade". What some may like others may not, therein lies the problem with a grade.

In PA there are so damned many deer and deer hunters it is impossible to please everybody.

This is the first year that buck and doe season have been combined (rifle season). I consider this a plus, others do not.

As of now a spike having a tine length of not less then 3" is legal (antlered deer). I hear various proposals for a 4 point minimum. I would like to see a 6 point minimum (3X3).

Although some will disagree I think we have a buck to doe ratio problem - way to many doe. Everytime I sit in my stand watching deer I see at least 10 doe per buck. Maybe thats because the bucks come out after dark but I don't think so.

It is being proposed that Sunday hunting be made legal (other then crows). I consider this a good thing as many people don't have but one day to hunt as of now - Saturday.

For non-residents to deer hunt in PA, it is very inexpensive. I would like to see the non-resident tags increased by at least 25%. This would be more in line with western states license costs for non--residents.
When a non-resident buys a license - over the counter- he/she is allowed an antlered deer (buck), at least 2 turkeys and all small game. All this for $103 - if memory serves me correctly. Non-resident doe tags are $26 each.

Just a few short years ago resident license was $12.50, it is now a bit over $20. Resident doe tags are a whopping $6 each.
I would like to see resident license go for around $40 and doe tags around $20 each. This would raise much needed capitol and provide better enforcement of the game laws. Often times it is next to impossible to locate a Game Warden.

Poaching is a HUGE problem in PA, at least near to where I live. Two years ago I found 4 deer stacked up like cord wood in the woods, all the heads where chopped off. Since I live within 10 miles of the Ohio line I see a lot of cars with Ohio plates. A lot of the poachers have Ohio plates. I have notified the Game Comm about poachers and "dummy" deer have been placed in fields to catch these poachers in the act. Again, with more revenue, created by higher license fees, more Game Wardens could be hired to curb a lot of this poaching.

I best get off my damn soap box now

Don

 

[danr55]

Don, You bring up an interesting point. What would be the best deterent to poaching? I am a firm believer in criminals weighing the penalty against the gain. I haven't known a lot of bad guys, but I've known a few. Everyone of them had the same comment about getting caught. "So What! I do 3 months of 6 months in county jail and then I'm out and I can do it again." Being in jail doesn't seem to carry the same threat it did 30 or 40 years ago. I believe that poaching should be made a felony everywhere like it is in Utah. Minimum sentence should be 1 year in jail, loss of hunting privledges, and forfieture of what ever the perp used in the commission of the crime. If the penalty for poaching is heavier than the gain, then folks won't do it. Well, most folks won't. There are always those that think they are smarter than everyone else. Like the guy that poached Traveller out of Yellowstone. He thought he would get away. Ah well.

 

[1_pointer]

Granted, I am new to the West, but I have never been in a state that is so proactive at pursuing poachers. There are booklets at the local sporting goods stores with pictures of the poached animals and where they were found/taken. Also, if you give information that leads to the conviction of the person(s) you are granted that same tag of your hunting choice of hunting unit. That even applies for once-in-a-lifetime tags!!! Not too bad of a benefit for turning in a scoudrel.

 

[Shaky]

Danr,

Anti poaching laws in PA are very strict. One that I know of first hand, because I was part of the sting, resulted in this: The 3 people had their rifle, vehicle and belongings in the vehicle all confiscated and were all sentenced to 6 months. I have no way of knowing if their belongings were ever returned. I would imagine that battle was taken to the courts.

I have spoken with a Deputy Game Warden and he told me: If a person or persons ever try to stop you from legally hunting gather all the info you can from said person or persons. Such as their name, address, phone number, pleasantly accept any literature they are passing out. The more documentation you have, the better. When it somes time to prosecute they have less ammo this way. It IS against the law to stop or try to stop any hunter legally pursueing hunting.

I had one and only one "run-in" with a person in my 36 years of hunting in PA. This was about 5 or 6 years ago. A buddy amd myself were dove hunting on Nursery property (there is a local Nursery that owns thousands of acres spread out all over the county). We were totally legal in our pursuit and hunting methods. This lady came out of her trailer from across the street (to the east - we were shooting to the north) and started *****ing up a storm. Something to the effect: Don't you be shooting those doves, they didn't do anything to you. Everytime a flock would come close she would be out on the road waving her hands and yelling. After a short time I decided, this is enough of this crap. I had my cell phone with me, I called the local Game Warden. About 20 minutes later the Warden arrived - she was still out there waving her hands, yelling and screaming. After I had a breif conversation with the Warden he walked over to the lady and started talking to her. After a few minutes he motioned for me to come over. As soon as I got close, within about 50 yards, off she went, screaming to the top of her lungs, waving her fist at me and threatening me - verbally. The warden motioned for me to stop and I faintly heard him tell her,,,,,,stay right here. He went to his truck, made a phone call, about 10 minutes later a State Police cruiser came flying down the road. I was motioned over after the state cop talked to her for a couple of minutes, again off she went, the cop put cuffs on her and in the squad car she went. The Warden and the state cop came over to me and asked, do you want to press charges? I said no, just shut her up and keep her out of our hair. With that the state cop drove off with her in the back seat, the Warden left and I went back to dove hunting.

We did hunt that same exact spot several more days and I never heard from that lady again. I have no idea what they did with her or if they simply scared the crap out of her. I really didn't care as long as her big mouth was gone, lol.

The only noise I wanted to hear that day was the noise from my buddys and my shotgun, not some fat ole bitty. lol

Don

 

[SPOTTED OWL]

I'd give Washington about a B-.Theres alot
of hunters, and not alot of game. I believe
we need to go to more of a permit season, especially for elk.Back in 89,the 29 federally reconized tribes won a court case
involving hunting in their ceded areas. What it came down to was they were able set their
own elk seasons, which were up to 6 months
long, and hunt almost all the territory
in the National Forest. Needless to say, the
elk hunting has never been the same. The game
dept thought it stunk big time, but was unable to overturn a federal court case.

 

[GilaMonster]

The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish is guilty of wildlife mismanagement.
Cougar populations are out of control but limited harvest numbers have been set. Deer numbers are at an all time low. Ibex, Oryx, Aoudad, Turkey, and Javelina numbers are also at an all time low. Over population of cougars and allowing too many hunting permits for too many years has depleated these. Elk populations are stable in most places. Bear populations are up, but our seasons have been shortened more and more for the past 20 years. How do I rate my state? Can I use a negative number?