Anyone hunt on or around the game lands #36 in Bradford County near The Schrader Creek? I've hunted this area for 10 years but, haven't had a chance to hunt there in the past 4 years. I live in Northeast pa. and always tried to make the trip up there because of the Huge Bucks and numbers of the deer compaired to where I live. I was happy to have gotten the opportunity to hunt there this year however I was dissapointed to find that the GREAT DOE SLAUGHTER has spread even to this area. I couldn't believe how the deer population has diminished over the last 4 years. I can't understand Why anyone would Climb those hugh mountains to shoot a doe!!! Anyone that has ever hunted this area knows exactly what i'm talking about when I say Mountains!!! The area I hunt, you have to cross the Schrader, then a about a 45 min walk up Heart attack hill!!! Spending half the day Draging out a Big Buck is one thing( if your lucky enough to shoot him in the morning) but, who in their right mind would break their back for a measily Doe? In my mind, they would have to be either desperate or stupid!
The reason The Buck are so huge in this area is because they are so hard to get at. In previous days, no one in their right mind would even consider shooting a doe in this area, and that was if I saw anyone all day!
I know this is turning into a rant, but i cant help myself. I know anyone from the not so serious hunter to the most avid hunters have noticed the decline of our deer population and there is no shortage of complaints either ! The GAme commission is not going to change the rules back until our Whitetail population is extinct or the Insurance company are satisfied there will never be a deer /car colision in this state again...Only you can do something about this issue!!!So Please-please-please, Stop shooting the *****ng Doe"s especially in the remote areas.

ok well all i can say is this seems to be borderlineing on "trophies only" type of huting. who in thier right mind would hunt a doe, well i would of course why because no matter how i cook them them antlers just are way too tough to chew on for me. born and raised in SW penn. I know the area where yer talking about and the big bigs are not all up there, they are throughout, you just gotta know where to go and how to get to them. not trying to take this personal, but calling one person nuts for hunting one animal just aint right..

The point I was trying to get across was... You can shoot meat anyplace. Why go through so much for a silly doe?

I grew up in PA, most PA hunters I know are meat hunters, nothing "silly" about putting meat in the freezer. I do agree on one point however, I have heard many hunters complaining about the game commission giving out too many antlerless tags........it doesnt matter how many tags are given out, giving out tags doesnt kill deer, pulling the trigger kills deer. I think a lot of PA hunters are starting to realize this.

I grew up Hunting PA. Potter Co, Bedford Co, Fulton Co, and A lot in Chester Co, In the late 70's you couldn't walk 50 yds in Potter Co. without tripping over a deer. The last time I hunted there was 91 or 92 had Two doe tags hunted for two days to see two does shot one started to shoot the other and thought this would be pretty sad to shoot the only two deer I saw. I haven't Hunted Potter since. I hunted Bedford up till about 6 years ago Hunting was pretty good then not sure about now. There's a lot of meat hunters In up state Pa. I consider myself a meat hunter ya can't eat the antler. From what I have heard though there are alot of complaints of not seeing the deer. Maybe the game commision needs to back off on the antlerless permits.
joe

I agree with the tasty animals! I enjoy just about any type of wild game but, don't you think two deer per person (1 buck and a 1 doe) is enough for a season? As a rule, I won't shoot a doe in the areas I normally hunt. To fill my doe tag, I go to the wildlife management units. There are many out there, they are posted on the game commission site. Again, the point I was trying to make wasn't to bash people who shoot doe, my point was, I feel as hunters no matter how many tags the Game Commission gives out, WE should be responsible enough not to participate in the slaughter!
Would it be that terrible not to shoot a doe for one year in regular areas? Can you imagine If a small percentage of hunters did this? It wouldn’t take long for the deer population to come back. Remember, when you shoot a doe, you’re not only killing 1 deer, you’re killing three.