TimesLeader.com

Q&A with the deer experts

By Tom Venesky tvenesky@timesleader.com
Sports Reporter

As Deer Management Section supervisor for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, Dr. Chris Rosenberry and his team of biologists are responsible for managing Pennsylvania’s most popular big game animal. He has been at the post since 2005 and in that time several significant changes have taken place.

Wilkes-Barre resident Jay Delaney represents the Northeast Region, District 7, as a commissioner on the game commission board. As one of eight commissioners, Delaney votes on recommendations made by Rosenberry and brings the concerns of area hunters to the table.

Here’s what they had to say about deer and deer hunting in Pennsylvania:

This season four Wildlife Management Units, including WMU 3C in the northeast, will be restricted to bucks only for the first five days and then a concurrent season for the last week, starting on the first Saturday. What are you looking for from this change and can we expect to see it in more WMU’s?

JD: I’m a big believer in the concurrent season, but it’s never a bad thing to re-examine how we manage deer. This change will be in place for four years, and during that time we’ll survey 2,400 hunters annually from the affected WMU’s and areas that were unchanged to find out if hunters are seeing more deer and if we can meet our harvest goals in a shorter window. This brings a human dimension to deer management, which is a valuable aspect.

CR: Deer numbers have come down in areas as a result of antlerless allocations. Many folks blame the 12-day concurrent season for that. This study will give us data on the effect of changing season lengths on antlerless harvest.

Is weather a factor in antlerless harvest?

CR: It’s always a concern. We make antlerless allocation recommendations in April – projecting what the harvest will be. When we had a three-day antlerless season, the challenge bad weather could ruin that projection. I’m interested in the season length that allows us to recover from bad weather, and the longer seasons are more predictable. That’s good for us and the deer population because there’s less chance for an over or under harvest.

Do you support the size of the current Wildlife Management Units or would you rather see smaller areas or a change back to using counties?

CR: I’m comfortable with most of the units because we can collect good enough data to make a recommendation.

JD: If we had adequate finances, I would want smaller WMU’s. But to have that, you need more biologists and personnel which takes money. If it was up to me, I think some WMU’s are too big, such as WMU 3D which is very expansive.

How important is the buck-to-doe ratio and where does herd reduction stand?

JD: When the deer program started in 2003 with the concurrent season, we wanted to bring the buck-to-doe ratio into play along with herd reduction. I think we accomplished that in many areas so right now many WMU’s are in herd stabilization. In three of them we’re actually increasing the herd. In our region, unit 4E saw an antlerless allocation reduction of 21 percent to allow the population to increase.

CR: The buck-to-doe ratio is one of those things that, for us, it’s not something we look at and set a goal. The thing of interest to us is reproduction. We want to see 1.5 embryos per adult doe. If they’re at that level we’re satisfied.

We’re seeing that level across most of the state. In the northeast, WMU 3D is lower than 1.5 and we’re keeping an eye on that unit. Typically, if reproduction is down there’s usually something nutritionally mimiting that. We’re looking at WMU 3D in terms of stabilizing the population for a couple of years.

Some processors are saying theyare getting more button bucks and young doe brought in every year. Do you see that, and what else are you hearing from the hunting public?

CR: We hear that every year, but the reality is the percentage of button bucks in the harvest statewide fluctuated between 12 and 23 percent for the last eight years. In the northeast, it’s 22 to 23 percent, and 18 to 19 percent for doe fawns. It hasn’t been an issue for a decade or more.

JD: With my vote in favor of the bucks only for five days in four WMU’s, I heard from a lot of hunters. In WMU 3D, I hear there is a fair amount of deer in the eastern side and very few toward the Lackawanna County end of it.

Since the game commission was founded in 1895, there’s always been complaints about deer. Here, our populations are down in areas, but I’m hearing far less complaints and hunters are happy that the board and agency is considering their thoughts on deer management.

When the ecosystem comes back and we see three-foot oak trees, I am for expanding the deer herd when we can do it responsibly. I’m happy to vote for that when our experts say we can do it.

What’s your prediction for the upcoming deer season in the northeast?

JD: Sportsmen may see less deer, but they will be healthier deer. I would be optimistic about the deer season, but there are areas where numbers are down.