Game Commission report: Record number of bucks harvested
With the largest harvest of antlered deer reported in nearly 15 years, the 2016-2017 deer harvest was dubbed a record year.
According to a report issued by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the state’s buck harvest increased by 9 percent, while the overall deer harvest went up about six percent.
“This has been quite a year for Pennsylvania deer hunting,” said R. Matthew Hough, executive director of the commission. “Not only was there an increased deer harvest and a significantly higher buck harvest, I saw hundreds of photos from hunters who took their buck-of-a-lifetime this past season.”
The state record for nontypical bucks was “shattered” this year, according to Hough, who said the Clearfield County man took the monster deer, scored at a whopping 228-6, during archery season.
The deer harvest report indicated that an estimated 333,254 deer were harvested last season. Of those harvested, 149,460 were antlered deer — the largest harvest since 2002.
“Bowhunters accounted for nearly 33 percent of the overall deer harvest, taking 109,250 deer (59,550 bucks and 49,700 does) with archery tackle,” the report read.
During muzzleloader season, 20,409 deer (1,350 bucks and 19,059 does) were harvested.
As for the antlered deer harvested, the game commission estimated that more than half of them were 2.5 years or older. Forty-four percent were 1.5-year-old bucks.
“Comparisons between the current year’s harvest and historic antlered harvests often do not consider hunter numbers,” the full report read. “In 1986, there were 1,000,000 deer hunters in Pennsylvania. Today, there are around 740,000 deer hunters. As a result, one cannot compare antlered harvest totals to the past without including the fact that there are fewer hunters hunting deer. When properly corrected by the number of hunters, success rates are comparable to the past.”
According to the commission, the harvest estimates are based on either deer checked by commission officers, or by harvest reports filled out and submitted by hunters.
In terms of the antlerless harvest, which accounts for does and button bucks, the numbers taken were similar to year’s past.
Button bucks accounted for 20 percent, while does accounted for about 64 percent.
In Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) 2C, which includes the mountain area and parts of Somerset, Cambria and Westmoreland, the number of antlered and antlerless deer taken (8,300 and 8,335 respectively) was down from the 9,100 and 8,490 taken last year.
In 2A, however, an estimated 500 more antlered deer were taken compared to last year. 2A, which includes Greene County and parts of Washington and Fayette counties, saw a drop in antlerless deer taken, with 9,200 taken this year compared to the 10,500 taken last year.
The commission also noted that 2B, which includes Allegheny County and higher parts of Washington and Westmoreland counties, saw similar increases in their antlered deer harvests.
The number of antlerless deer, though, decreased by about 1,000.
Last year, the game commission also released statistics on their annual deer population report.
In the three WMUs in our coverage area, the population trends and objectives were listed as stable.
The health of the deer, and the forest, are taken into consideration, as well as the number of deer and human conflicts, to help determine the allocation numbers for WMU permits.
From the 2015-2016 to the 2016-2017 hunting seasons, 2A and 2C allocations were increased from 43,000 to 47,000, and 31,000 to 28,000, respectively.
The number of permits issued in 2B remained the same at 61,000.