Pennsylvania's estimated 10,000 Black Bears, 200,000 Coyotes and uncounted populations of Bobcats and Fishers are not dampening the 1 million Whitetail Deer population that roam the Keystone State..........In addition, human Hunters killed 315,000 of the deer this past season------So all those Pennsylvania politicians calling for Coyote bounties are truly unknowing and ignorant of the Deers regenerative biology and ability to bounce back annually, even when we have a string of snowy winters(not this past year).................The millenia old predator suite that once also included Wolves and Pumas(as well as Bears, Fishers, Bobcats, Lynx, Fishers, Marten and now Coyotes) have never decimated the deer herd here.............The natural predator and prey matrix should be encouraged rather than discouraged by the Politicians so as to keep Pennsylvania woodlands regenerating and not be mowed down by a deer herd unchecked by carnivores

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State had biggest buck kill in 13 years in 2015-16 deer hunting season; how big was the increase?

An estimated 137,580 antlered deer were harvested by hunters in the 2015-16 in Pennsylvania, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission. (PENNSYLVANIA GAME COMMISSION)

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By Marcus Schneck | mschneck@pennlive.com 
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on March 15, 2016 at 8:30 AM

Deer hunters killed 137,580 antlered deer in the 2015-16, according to estimates by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

That's the largest antlered deer harvest estimate since 2003-04, when the commission estimated the antlered harvest at 142,270.

It's also an increase of about 15 percent over last year's estimate of 119,260 bucks killed.

In 2014-15, a number of factors including poor weather on key hunting days and limited deer movements due to exceptionally abundant mast contributed to a reduced deer harvest.

Because of declining hunter compliance with legal requirements to report the deer they kill, the commission has used estimated kill numbers rather than reported harvest numbers.

The overall deer harvest for the 2015-16 seasons was estimated at 315,813, an increase of about 4 percent over the 2014-15 harvest estimate of 303,973.

Fewer antlerless deer, generally referred to as doe, were killed in 2014-15: 178,233, down about 4 percent from 184,713 in 2014-15.

Although antlerless deer hunting permits and other permits allowing the taking of antlerless deer have varied widely over the years and that would impact the harvest numbers each year, the 2014-15 estimate for antlerless deer harvest was the lowest since 1998-99, when the commission estimated the doe kill at 184,224.

According to the commission, the drop in the 2015-16 antlerless harvest was a predictable outcome, given that 33,000 fewer antlerless licenses were allocated statewide in 2015-16, compared to the previous year.

Reducing the allocation of doe licenses within a wildlife management unit allows deer numbers to grow there. Records show it takes an allocation of about four antlerless licenses to harvest one antlerless deer, and the success rate for antlerless-deer hunters again was consistent at about 25 percent in 2015-16.

The commission emphasized the percentage of older bucks included in the 2015-16 harvest. According to the agency's estimates, 59 percent of the 2015-16 antlered deer kill was bucks at least 2.5 years old. That's the highest percentage of adult bucks in the harvest in decades. It was 57 percent last year.

According to Wayne Laroche, director of the commission's Bureau of Wildlife Management, the trend toward more adult bucks in the harvest started with the implementation of antler restrictions, which protect more yearling bucks through the first hunting seasons when they carry antlers.

Harvest estimates are based on more than 24,000 deer checked by commission personnel and more than 100,000 harvest reports submitted by successful hunters. Because most harvests go unreported, estimates provide a more accurate picture of hunter success, according to the commission. However, in 2015-16 the rate at which successful hunters reported their harvests increased slightly

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Pennsylvania Game Commission studies deer predator effects

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