Except for squirrel, look for average hunting in western Greene
Western Greene County Wildlife Conservation Officer Rod Burns said that things were “pretty quiet” when we spoke over a week ago. He noted that he had been spending quite a bit of time on night patrol, indicating that there was some poaching activity going on.
“We’ve had a few deer killed so far, and in one instance three were shot in one area, but I think it was more of a revenge thing against the landowner.”
He believes that warm temperatures keep late night activity at a minimum with some late spotlighting being the only illegal activity at the time.
Then I asked how he felt about the tougher new anti poaching laws.
“I think it will be a deterrent if it works the way it is supposed too,” Burns said. “It will depend on the parties in the process functioning together + the officers and the court system.
“Once offenders kill multiple deer, it becomes a misdemeanor.
“We’re going to spend a lot more time in the courtroom, that’s for sure.
“It will change the way we do some things. Our job will get harder and maybe more dangerous because, instead of being charged with a summary offense, violators will now be charged with a misdemeanor.
“When the charges are greater, the more the people are going to resist.
“It will all depend on the system. It’s not a system I’m familiar with. A year from now I’ll have a lot better idea of how it works.”
In discussing the deer season outlook, Burns said, “In my end of the county, I haven’t seen as many fawns as I usually do. I saw some singles and twins, but no triples.
“The Eastern half of the county has better deer production. It has a lot more agriculture. We have a lot more plain old woods; simply put, our habitat is not as good.”
Burns pointed out that deer were not being seen in fields because of the lack of rain and above normal temperatures, while noting that the mast was better this year than last year.
“Deer in the woods would rather feed on white oak acorns than go into the fields to eat dry grass, plus deer are not going to stand around in the heat,” he said.
On a positive note, he said that he did not receive one sick deer call all summer, which was a good thing after the EHD outbreak two years ago that killed countless numbers of deer in western Greene and southern Washington counties, plus scattered deaths in eastern Greene and the western half of Fayette County.
While he didn’t see any sick deer, Burns has seen some nice bucks, and others have been telling him about trophy bucks they are seeing.
“I saw one buck that was the exception about a month ago,” he said. “It was still in velvet. I saw it in the same area I saw a big one last year, so I’m assuming it’s the same deer.”
Years ago Greene County was also the place to go to hunt grouse, but that has changed.
“There are no grouse,” Burns said. “Go somewhere else to hunt grouse. I would sooner hunt many counties that are far better than Greene.
“Due to the deer, the habitat has changed over times.”
I said that a grouse hunter once told me the grouse dwindled because the growing turkey flocks forced them out.
To that Burns responded, “I asked that question to a biologist, and he said that turkeys have very little impact on grouse.”
One game species that Greene County can always talk up is squirrels.
“Squirrel is good. The hunting is exceptional here. It has always been exceptional for both fox and grey squirrels.”
When queried about turkeys, Burns said, “I think they did better this year. I saw quite a few poults this summer. Right now, I see quite a few filling up on grasshoppers each morning.”
Burns said that he has had a few reports of bear sighting in the county and saw a picture of a sow with cubs that was taken near Centennial in Aleppo Twp., noting that there was fewer bear reports this year than last.
Burns, too, has seen porcupines — an animal that is not plentiful in the area.
“I saw two porcupines that were killed on the road,” he said, and “I think were are starting to get a few fishers.”
A few years ago just about everyone in Greene County was up in arms about the growing coyote population and the damage they were doing to not only the deer herd but to sheep and other domestic animals, but Burns doesn’t seem alarmed.
“I still hear coyotes,” he said, “but it’s tough to get a number on them.”
I asked if fox hunting is nearly as popular a pastime in the county as it was during my youth, and Burns said, “I don’t see many fox hunters. Fox numbers seem to be down. There are a lot less foxes around, but I don’t know why.
“I know coyotes will prey on foxes if they can. The hound hunters we have are mostly coon hunters. Many foxhunters have switched to hunting coyotes with hounds. They do it a lot in eastern Pennsylvania, where the hunters follow the hounds on horseback.”
On the raccoon population, Burns said, “I haven’t seen as many raccoons as I used to. There used to be lot of raccoons.”
I assumed that the beaver population was in check, but Burns said, “Beavers are still a problem. I took care of four complaints this summer. Beavers are easy to catch, but it is a lot of work. They still cause some issues.”
Quads are a perennial problem that is worse in some areas than others.
“Everybody has problems with quads, especially when hunting season comes,” Burns said. “It’s amazing how people have so little respect for property of others. It’s not as bad as it was, but it is still an issue.”
Burns also noted that baiting is more of an issue now than it has ever been. “The TV shows all show hunters using it, so they think it’s OK. If we find baited areas, we will enforce the law. They will get tickets.”
Burns was looking forward to getting a cadet out of the Game Commission’s training school, who will be with him for few weeks.
One thing for sure, the cadet couldn’t find a better mentor.
Herald-Standard Outdoor Editor Rod Schoener can be reached on line at rschoener@heraldstandard.com.