Put reservations aside; don’t hesitate to take a big doe on opening day
Dr. Gary Alt is hoping for big things this deer season with antler restrictions in place for the first time. Hopefully, deer hunters are more enthusiastic than some that were expected to participate in the early hunting seasons.
Wildlife conservation officers reported seeing very few hunters out for the early flintlock antlerless deer season and the junior/senior antlerless deer rifle season.
After typical opening-day rushes even squirrel, rabbit, pheasant and turkey hunters are hard to find, especially on weekdays.
Southern Fayette County Wildlife Conservation Officer Steve Leiendecker even joked that he had to look at his calendar to make sure it wasn’t Sunday when he spent one day without encountering a single hunter.
This year’s deer season will definitely be different. For the first time hunters will have to be selective and pass up smaller bucks that do not meet the 3-points on one side restriction, while being encouraged to shoot antlerless deer.
I know that I will find it hard to shoot a doe without reservations.
Ever since I was old enough to hunt, I purchased an antlerless deer license almost every year.
Growing up in Washington County, my buddies and I would hunt all day and never see a deer. We wouldn’t even consider going deer hunting in the county. Everybody came to Fayette County or points north such as Potter, Elk, McKean and Clinton counties to join family and friends at “deer camp.”
My biggest thrill was the day trips I made to Fayette County with by Uncles Alex and Steve Dury to hunt deer in the Lemont and Jumonville areas with my Uncle Alex’s work buddy, Rudy Markusic of Coolspring.
Even though I never saw a buck, I have fond memories of those hunts. I would see more deer in a day than I could find in a year in Washington County, plus I got a close-up look at my first flock of wild turkeys, which circled my stand, digging through the crust on knee-deep snow in search of acorns.
In those days, Washington County deer hunters would purchase an antlerless deer license and throw it away. Most never had any intention of using it. They just bought one in hopes of saving a doe to grow the herd. It must have worked. Look at Washington County’s deer herd now!
I don’t know if it was true or not, but I heard it said that some clubs required members to turn in an unused doe license as part of the following year’s dues.
Over the years that I have purchased doe licenses, I doubt if I actually pinned one on once or twice with the intention of actually killing a doe, especially with a rifle.
When possession of an antlerless license became a requirement to take a doe in archery season, I thought I would take a doe if I got the opportunity at a good shot.
That shot never came, and I can only recall going for doe one time after not killing a buck for several years and desiring a taste of venison again.
I shot at and missed one several times that day, only to find out later that the scope mount on my rifle had cracked between the time I sighted-in the rifle and that hunt, sending every round a foot high of its intended mark, something I only discovered during close examination after finding it impossible to zero-in the rifle.
I always enjoyed “hunting” deer, plunging far off the road and into the deepest brush, especially in my younger days.
I only shot one buck smaller than a six-point in my life. It was a three-pointer, which was all we ever saw in Potter County. I never thought “trophy buck.” I worked hard at deer hunting and was content with what God brought my way. A truly large buck would have just been a bonus.
There are many more hunters like myself, who never considered antlers to be that important.
This year, for the first time, antlers are important. Antler restrictions require all of us to be selective.
While buck and doe seasons were joined last year, many hunters held off, waiting for a buck. Due to a health problem, I was unable to hunt last year, but I am looking forward to it this year.
With antler restrictions and the great job the Game Commission has done of explaining why we need to reduce the deer population, and especially the doe population, I look for an all-time high antlerless harvest this year.
I am willing to bet that even the old timers, who once refused to kill a doe, will take one first thing in the morning.
Last week a total of only 19,000 antlerless deer licenses remained in a handful of counties. One county that sold out was Chester County. Having family there, and knowing how hard it is to get permission to hunt, I find that amazing. I wonder if the landowners didn’t buy up the licenses to keep hunters out.
While some people say they are seeing bucks, I can’t join in that conversation. In the past month, I’ve seen many does but only two bucks that weren’t splattered on the road – one flintlock hunting near Pine Bank and another standing along the road near Belle Vernon a few days ago.
It is obvious that our buck/doe ratio is way out of whack. About 10 years ago the ratio got closer, and I killed my first buck in many years. Every time my wife and I went for a drive that year we saw as many bucks as does. I thought it was great. In fact, that fall Fayette County’s buck harvest exceeded the doe harvest for the first time ever.
When the figures were printed, one guy called and said, “You made a mistake. Your figures showed the buck harvest to be greater than the doe harvest.” At that point I explained to him that it was not a mistake. The buck harvest was, indeed, larger than the doe harvest.
I hope the antlerless harvest comes from the mountains as well as the lowlands for hunting the lowlands has definitely become more popular than hunting in the mountains.
I don’t think there are that many more deer in the lowlands; the lowlands are just more accessible.
It has a lot to do with today’s lifestyle. Years ago a large number of hunters went to deer camp and hunted hard for the first two or three days of the season, entering the woods before dawn and not returning until dark.
That seldom happens today. Most hunters who go out early are back home in time for lunch.
I think it is more a product of our times than hunting strategy. There are many hunters who could stay in the woods all day but don’t, and many who would hunt all day can’t due to changing lifestyle patterns, which limit leisure time, require longer working hours, multiple jobs and in many cases long commutes.
A larger percentage of the hunting community lives in the lowlands, so if those sportsmen only have few hours to hunt, they go close to home, where they are able to spend more time actually hunting.
The important thing is to make the most of the opportunities you have.
Get out and enjoy the hunt, and even if you have reservations, don’t hesitate to take a big doe on opening day.
Next year or the year after you just may thank yourself when that “buck of a lifetime’ comes sneaking up to your stand.
Remember that a safe hunt is a good hunt.
Herald-Standard outdoor writer Rod Schoener can be reached on line at rschoener@heraldstandard.com.