Click here to subscribe today or Login.
By GEORGE SMITH
georges@leader.net
Thursday, March 20, 2003 Page: 5B
WILKES-BARRE – Hunters in Pennsylvania tallied a record deer harvest last
season that exceeded the previous record by almost 13,000 animals, according
to data released late Wednesday by the state Game Commission.
Last season hunters killed 517,529 deer statewide compared to the 486,014
taken in 2001 and the 504,600 – the former record – tallied in 2000.
Last season’s harvest surpassed the 2000 record by 12,929 deer.
“We were expecting a large harvest in the 2002 seasons, and we got it,”
said Gary Alt, chief of the commission’s deer management section, in a
prepared statement. “Proportionately, the harvest wasn’t quite what we thought
it would be, but hunters still took more antlerless deer and fewer antlered
bucks than previous years, which was the primary goal.”
While the 2002 deer harvest was up from 2001 harvest statewide, it fell in
Luzerne County. Last season hunters killed 3,025 antlered deer and 4,727
antlerless. That is 1,570 fewer buck than the 4,595 killed in the county in
2001. And it is 234 fewer doe than 4,961 taken in the county that same year.
Of the 517,529 deer taken last season, 352,113 were doe and 165,416 were
buck.
In 2001, 282,767 doe were taken along with 203,247 buck. The drop in the
antlered deer total is a reflection of the new antler restrictions that were
in place last year.
Bowhunters took 69,648 deer (33,476 bucks and 36,172 doe) during the 2002
seasons compared to the 2001 archery harvest of 74,051, 40,753 buck and 33,298
doe.
Flintlock hunters took 32,640 deer, 1,279 bucks and 31,361 doe, compared to
the 2001 flintlock harvest of 25,817 deer, 2,127 buck and 23,690 doe.
Rifle hunters took 130,661 bucks and 284,580 doe last season.
According to the Commission, conservation officers handled 2,096 mistake
kills in which deer were taken that did not meet the antler restriction
requirements. Of that number, 2,050 resulted in hunters paying a $25
administrative fee and surrendering the antlers.
The mistake kill reports by region include the Northwest, 293; Southwest,
264;
Northcentral, 556; Southcentral, 325; Northeast, 443; and Southeast, 215.
What follows is a breakdown of the antlered (A) and antlerless (AL) deer
harvest in Luzerne and surrounding counties. For comparison, the 2001 harvest
is listed in parenthesis.
Luzerne: A 3,025 (4,595), AL 4,727 (4,961); Lackawanna: A 1,101 (1,594), AL
2,463 (2,273); Wyoming: A 1,327 (1,784), AL 2,949 (2,108); Sullivan: A 1,315
(1,789), AL 2,965 (1,913); Columbia: A 2,107), AL 4,004 (4,540); Schuylkill: A
3,138 (4,022), AL 6,055 (5,507); Carbon: A 1,000 (1,327), AL 2,070 (1,387);
and Monroe: A 1,725 (2,102), AL 3,576 (2,167).
In addition, the commission reported that hunters and trappers harvested
135 bobcats during the 2002-2003 bobcat season, which closed Feb. 22. There
were 146 bobcats taken the previous season.
The agency awarded 545 bobcat permits from a field of more than 3,100
applicants.
Four cats were taken in Luzerne County, the same number as the previous
season. Wyoming County experienced a sharp harvest increase, as 10 were taken
this season compared to three the previous season.
The 135 bobcats were taken in 19 of the 20 eligible counties. No cats were
taken in Lackawanna County; one was taken during the previous season.
By county, the harvest breakdown includes: Bradford, 12; Cameron, 7;
Centre, 3; Clearfield, 13; Clinton, 12; Columbia, 1; Elk, 10; Forest, 4;
Luzerne, 4; Lycoming, 5; McKean, 4; Monroe, 1; Pike, 3; Potter, 10; Sullivan,
12; Susquehanna, 2; Tioga, 19; Wayne, 1; and Wyoming, 10.
It is not yet known what county two of the bobcats were taken in.
George Smith, a Times Leader staff writer, can be reached at 829-7230.