Dec 30, 2016 4 min read

Perhaps it is only here at home, but the take of whitetail deer was off a bit.

I was talking to a past official of the Pennsylvania Game Commission who agreed with me.

For one thing, the number of license sales has dropped significantly and fewer people in the woods spells a lower number of deer taken. Also, adding to the lower take is we are fast becoming a society that is losing its desire to be hunters and gatherers.

We are living in a more artificial world and are less at tune with the natural world.

Instead of noticing a really huge white oak along the trail, today’s trees are nothing more than images on a computer screen. Few children today know a Virginia blue bell from a plastic yard decoration and fewer still recognize the call of a redwing black bird.

With all that, is it any wonder that fewer youngsters take part in the hunting or the gatherings. Of course, jumping back to the original reason for the loss of hunters and thus revenue for the commission and suppliers of hunting supplies, I must say it is not a simple problem with a simple answer but one with a variety of reasons and few solutions.

There are some who say we are living at a time when the tail is wagging the dog. Even some from the commission, when questioned in private, admit that it is the traditional firearms deer season that pays most of the bills.

Much of the commission’s income comes from the traditional buck season. Yet some insiders would say most of the bucks, including most of the large-antlered trophies, are taken during archery season.

Breaking it down even further, it has been said to me the fault lies at the feet of those using a crossbow. Personally, I don’t think the blame lies entirely at the feet of those using the crossbow.

Eliminate the crossbow and you deny the archery season from quite a few folks. The use of such a bow enables those of advanced age to hunt. It is also used by people of smaller stature.

Is it fair to allow only those of strength to hunt?

I also must ask if the crossbow has a greater impact on the deer harvest than the two-week extension of the archery season into the rut?

As you can see the problem of the potential overharvest of bucks during the archery season is one of complexity with no simple solution.

The question of antler quality also came up and the commission official I spoke with commented on what he perceived as a decline in overall antler quality with a high number of small-antlered bucks in the woods.

My answer to that would be what is expected when increased pressure is put on large-antlered bucks, while at the same time allowing those little-horned bucks to go on breeding the does? It takes a few generations for this watering down of the gene pool to show up and perhaps it is now.

The deer herd and the season to hunt them is one of the most debated subjects the commission has to deal with, so I welcome the change to turkey hunting.

Turkey numbers are high and my source said he thought every turkey egg laid in Pennsylvania hatched and all the young lived. Maybe he was right, I think I will go see.

• Don’t forget the gun show at Arden this month. The days are Jan. 7 and 8 at the Washington County Fairgrounds.

It is the largest in Southwestern Pennsylvania. I enjoy these shows and usually attend both days.

George H. Block writes a Sunday Outdoors column for the Observer-Reporter.