Too Many Deer

This morning I look out the kitchen window and there are 3 nice buck in my backyard - in the evening when I take a walk down the road I see deer all over the fields - I counted 40 50 deer in the fields just about every night - as a hunter I like to see the deer but I think they are too many and I have a hard time having a garden and
orchard - they eat everything - most the mountain behind by place is privately owned and only a few deer are taken each year - so the deer go up the mountain during the day and then in the evening they come down to feed in the fields - not enough are harvested - here in Pa it is unlawful bait the deer so getting at them isn't that easy - I guess a lot of hunters would say that they wished for such a problem

What are they limits of deer harvest in PA?

Baiting is legal where I hunt but in my experience it is not as effective as most people assume, it does draw in deer but its best benefit is for new hunters as the activity level of all animals around bait keeps them entertained. Having said that, I do use it as part of my stratgey when the snow is on the ground.

" I guess a lot of hunters would say that they wished for such a problem "
How right you are, Joe! When travelling through Pennsylvania and New Jersey, I see lots of deer on highway shoulders during the day.
I can only imagine how many are in the bush ..

Making baiting illegal is dumb, in high deer populations it stands a chance of bringing them in early and giving the hunter a better opportunity to thin out a herd that desperately needs it, where as baiting in low deer populations isn't as effective because deer do not have to compete and would rather visit the bait pile after hours.

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Originally Posted by newbiehunter

What are they limits of deer harvest in PA?

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Here in Pa. a person is able to take a buck with the regular license - then a person can buy an Antlerless license for a particular hunting zone - the game commission allocates a certain number of Antlerless licenses for each hunting zone - so if there are still Antlerless licenses available a person can buy a couple more - I got 1 Antlerless license for this coming season - so I can shoot a buck and one doe - my son next door got two Antlerless licenses before the allocated number was reached - a doe license costs $6.50 - I could get more doe licenses but they would be for a zone that doesn't include where I hunt - in my back yard -

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Originally Posted by JoePa

Here in Pa. a person is able to take a buck with the regular license - then a person can buy an Antlerless license for a particular hunting zone - the game commission allocates a certain number of Antlerless licenses for each hunting zone - so if there are still Antlerless licenses available a person can buy a couple more - I got 1 Antlerless license for this coming season - so I can shoot a buck and one doe - my son next door got two Antlerless licenses before the allocated number was reached - a doe license costs $6.50 - I could get more doe licenses but they would be for a zone that doesn't include where I hunt - in my back yard -

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I read probably 1-2 years ago about some states would only give out a buck tag after you had filled a doe tag first because of the abundance of deer and the number of hunters that were unwilling to shoot does. But can't for the life of me remember where they were talking about.

cantgetright, I remember hearing that as well. you don't need bait IMO at least no if there are a lot of deer around. I get 2 deer or should every year and do not bait them. Just need to know the area you hunt and set up in the right place. 6.50 for a Doe tag, boy I only wish, 50 something here I should know how much as i just bought 2, but just hand over the money. A friend of mine used to hunt your way years ago, he always brought deer back, but they were really small compared to ours, is that still the case?