Pennsylvania Deer News

Lack of cooperation is root of hunter complaint May 17, 2013 Pennsylvania, GoErie.com
Hunters have complained harshly that population estimates were propaganda. The Game Commission dreaded releasing estimates of the deer population... Harvest estimates are vital to deer management, especially to antlerless deer license allocations. Without reasonably accurate harvest estimates, determining the number of does that should be removed from the population is just guesswork... 

...The estimated deer density in the park will be 49 deer per square mile (260 deer) after fawns are born this spring. Although still above the plan’s initial target level of 31-35 deer per square mile, this represents a significant reduction from the estimated 241 deer per square mile (1,277 deer) present in 2009...  National Park Service staff has documented native species seedlings that had not been just a few years ago, including maple, ash, oak, black gum, hickory, cherry, and sassafras...

Deer gets on, off city bus May 15, 2013 Pennsylvania, The Tribune-Democrat
... CamTran spokesman Josh Yoder said the bus was carrying one female passenger when the deer crashed through the windshield of it. "The driver immediately stopped the bus," Yoder said. "He opened the door and the deer just walked off the bus." ...

Agencies, politicians duke it out, price of deer tags May 14, 2013 Pennsylvania, Sunbury Daily Item
... it's members of the legislature who are pushing the possibility of a PGC/PFBC merger ... The Pennsylvania Game Commission has to cut costs to the bone due to an inability to raise the price of a hunting license... More and more upset hunters began talking to their legislators.  They figured if they didn’t have much power over the agency, their legislators certainly did...

...  said state Sen. Rich Alloway, who chairs the Senate Game & Fisheries Committee. "I know that we have to be concerned about the forest and the habitat, but I feel the pendulum has swung so far out of balance in reducing the deer herd." ... House Bill 870 ... would prevent the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources from enrolling its 2.1 million acres of state forest and state park lands in the PGC's Deer Management Assistance Program... Ponesti said the loss of hunters over the past decade, and the dollars they spent, was greater than the increase in timber value derived from keeping deer numbers on state forest lands low...

Deer Management Hearing held May 8, 2013 Pennsylvania, Potter-Leader Enterprise
The first of an expected series of hearings to review the policies and procedures within the Pennsylvania Game Commission's (PGC) Deer Management Program... Opinions represented at the hearing varied widely on many aspects of deer management, from practices used to estimate herd sizes and populations, characteristics of habitat degradation, forest usage, tourism, economic development and even the definition of land stewardship as seen by each individual...

Derry Township deer hunter to face trial May 2, 2013 Pennsylvania, Tribune-Review
... A Derry Township man who shot a deer running through a Wal-Mart parking lot on the first day of buck season last fall was ordered to stand trial for endangering the public... Hewitt testified Bianco followed the deer and fired another shot as it crossed Old Route 22 toward a residential area behind the store, and two more shots after it fell in an unidentified woman's yard...

Man accused of shooting at deer from Walmart lot May 1, 2013



State's Second Disease Management Area Created in Response to CWD, DMAs now in parts of six counties: Adams, Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Huntingdon and York May 1, 2013 Pennsylvania, PGC News Release
... The Pennsylvania Game Commission has established the state’s second Disease Management Area in parts of four counties in response to three hunter-killed deer that tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease.  Through an executive order, PGC Executive Director Carl G. Roe has created the state’s second Disease Management Area (DMA) in parts of Bedford, Blair, Cambria and Huntingdon counties. The first, in Adams and York counties, was established by executive order in October, 2012. Within these DMAs, there are special restrictions for people to minimize the risk of spreading CWD.
     The executive order sets in place a variety of restrictions, including the following: it is illegal to remove or export high-risk cervid parts – including head, spine, spleen – from DMAs; all cervids killed in the DMAs are subject to testing by PGC; cervids within the DMAs cannot be rehabilitated, including injured and reportedly orphaned deer; the use or possession of cervid urine-based attractants is prohibited in DMAs; direct or indirect feeding of wild, free-ranging deer is illegal in DMAs; no new PGC permits will be issued to possess or transport live cervids.
     Road-killed deer can be picked up under certain conditions, and those looking to do so can call their PGC regional office for approval.
    “The second executive order creates a second Disease Management Area over nearly 900 square miles in Bedford, Blair, Cambria and Huntingdon counties and changes laws, regulations and restrictions related to free-ranging deer and other cervids,” Roe explained. “They are steps we have taken to provide additional protections to the state’s invaluable populations of wild deer and elk.
     “We are counting on all Pennsylvanians to help us in this important endeavor,” Roe said. “Their cooperation will play a major role in helping to contain or limit the spread of CWD within the Commonwealth.”
    The executive order and maps with descriptions of both DMAs have been posted on the Game Commission’s website, www.pgc.state.pa.us, in the CWD Info Section, which can be accessed from the website’s homepage. They also will be published in the 2013-14 Pennsylvania Hunting and Trapping Digest. Combined, both DMAs total nearly 1,500 square miles of the Commonwealth.
     The Commonwealth’s CWD Interagency Task Force went into action to address the threat of the disease to captive and wild deer and elk populations in the state as soon as a captive white-tailed deer tested positive for CWD in October. Task force members include representatives from the state departments of Agriculture, Environmental Protection and Health, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Geological Survey/Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and Penn State University/Cooperative Extension Offices. Generally, the state Department of Agriculture manages threats from captive deer and other cervids, while the Game Commission manages threats from wild deer and elk. The task force works to carry out an established response plan, which includes education and outreach with public meetings and minimizing risk factors through continued surveillance, testing and management.
 ]   Pennsylvania’s first case of CWD was reported by the state Department of Agriculture October 11, 2012; it involved a captive-born and -raised white-tailed deer from a farm near New Oxford in Adams County. The sample tissue was tested at the Pennsylvania Veterinary Laboratory in Harrisburg and verified at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa. The Game Commission on March 1 announced the state’s first three cases of CWD in free-ranging deer. 
     CWD attacks the brains of infected deer, elk and moose. It is transmitted by direct animal-to-animal contact, such as through saliva, feces and urine, or indirectly by exposure to a contaminated environment. The disease is fatal and there is no known treatment or vaccine. CWD was first discovered in Colorado captive mule deer in 1967, and has since been detected in 21 other states and two Canadian provinces, including Pennsylvania’s neighboring states of New York, West Virginia and Maryland. Pennsylvania is the 22nd state to find CWD in a captive or wild deer population.   
The 2012 hunter-killed deer from Bedford and Blair counties that tested positive for CWD were the first since the PGC began testing for the disease in 1998. Prior to that, more than 43,000 free-ranging deer and elk had tested negative for CWD.

... Although he proposed no changes for WMU 5C in southeastern Pennsylvania, Commissioner Brian Hoover pointed to the possible need for some alterations.  He noted, "5C is a very large wildlife management unit that has diverse habitat in it and has separate issues" in different parts of the WMU, which range from the nearly urban Chester County to sprawling agricultural fields, woodlots and mountainside of northern Berks County...

Repelling deer in the yard is as simple as the plants April 26, 2013 Pennsylvania, Tribune-Review
... create a beautiful garden by using the right plants.  Though there is no such thing as a deer-proof plant, there are many species of plants that the deer seldom feed on... Deer often avoid plants with fuzzy or hairy foliage. This includes plants like lambs ear (Stachys), lady's mantle (Alchemilla mollis) ... Plants that contain compounds toxic to deer ... Poppies (Papaver), false indigo (Baptisia australis) ... heavily fragranced foliage ... Most herbs are both beautiful and deer-resistant ...

Impact of Climate Change April 26, 2013 Pennsylvania
... The deer ...probably will face increasing challenges – for example, milder winters will increase the range and abundance of deer tick population by as much as 68 percent. Climate change also will create a more hospital climate for the tiny biting midges that transmit epizootic hemorrhagic disease to deer... In states to the south, like Kentucky and Tennessee, EHD outbreaks occur almost every year, so regularly that the native deer have developed some immunity...

Pennsylvanians enjoy their deer, study confirms April 26, 2013 Penn Live (blog)
...  the state animal – the white-tailed deer ... those who appreciate the presence of the animals are divided among those who foresee no downside (49 percent) and those who enjoy the deer but worry that they will bring some problems with them (28 percent). Only 6 percent saw no redeeming qualities in the deer, which they viewed as a nuisance... 77 percent of Pennsylvania residents say they enjoy having deer around, but 85 percent support legal, regulated deer hunting ...

Let professionals make game management decisions April 25, 2013 Pennsylvania, GoErie.com
 ... What the hunters who oppose Game Commission policies do not understand, in some cases, is that game managers do not make policy decisions, they only make recommendations which are then decided by the Board of Game Commissioners... Wildlife managers can tell us what the biological carrying capacity is for any given habitat. Very few hunters are qualified to argue this. But deer are managed based on social carrying capacity, which is adjusted to meet the desires of stakeholders...

...This study provides hitherto unavailable methodology for reliably and precisely estimating deer density within forested landscapes, enabling quantitative rather than qualitative deer management. Reliability and precision of the deer pellet-group technique were evaluated in 1 small and 2 large forested landscapes. Density estimates, adjusted to reflect deer harvest and overwinter mortality, were compared with a drive count on the small landscape and with aerial counts using forward-looking infrared videography (FLIR) on the large landscapes. Estimates by 2 expert and 2 novice counters (range = 17.6 to 18.6 deer/km2) on the small landscape were not different from each other and three of the four were not different from the drive count (17.4 deer/km2). FLIR density estimates were approximately 30% lower than pellet-group estimates on the large landscapes (P < 0.04), an expected result. Precision on the small landscape was high; 95% confidence intervals for individual counters were <7.5% of mean estimates of density, and coefficients of variability were <10%. Precision on the larger landscapes was acceptable: 95% confidence intervals were 18.4 to 30.4% of mean estimates and coefficients of variability were <25%. The pellet-group technique produces reliable and precise estimates of deer density, is inexpensive, requires little training to implement, and is best suited to northern hardwood forests where snow and cold result in minimal deterioration of pellet groups. Unless corrected for hunter harvest and overwinter mortality, pellet-group counts represent average overwinter density and overestimate spring density...

Evaluation of knowledge, attitudes, and practices of deer owners following identification of a cluster of captive deer with rabies in Pennsylvania in July 2010 DM Tack, JD Blanton, RC Holman, AH Longenberger… Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association  May 1, 2013, Vol. 242, No. 9, Pages 1279-1285
... The questionnaire response rate was 59% (249/425). One hundred three of 206 (50%) respondents had incomplete knowledge of rabies virus vectors, transmission, severity, and prevention measures. Birds or snakes were incorrectly identified as rabies vectors by 96 of 213 (45%) respondents, and most (≥ 94%) respondents identified rabies virus reservoirs as vectors... Only 62 of 235 (26%) respondents would wash a wound immediately. The majority of respondents (173/239 [72%]) did not know the clinical signs of rabies in deer. Nine respondents indicated that they vaccinated their deer against rabies, and the majority of respondents (158/214 [74%]) would be willing to vaccinate... Findings suggested that deer owners in Pennsylvania have a basic knowledge of rabies; however, knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding prevention of rabies transmission could be improved considerably. Rabies educational materials for deer owners should focus on postexposure procedures, disease severity, recognition of rabies in deer, and changes in management practices such as vaccination to prevent rabies.

Big management unit split in two April 21, 2013 Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Post Gazette
... In 2010, when the state Legislature commissioned an independent study of the Pennsylvania Game Commission's deer management plan, one of the Wildlife Management Institute's recommendations was that the agency draw smaller, more manageable wildlife management units... Many hunters complained that deer management practices dramatically reduced the whitetail population in the northern tier. Game Commission biologists argued that deer numbers were growing to suit available habitat...

Antlerless allocations decrease in northeast April 20, 2013 Pennsylvania, Wilkes Barre Times-Leader
... all of Monroe and Pike counties and parts of Wayne, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Carbon and Northampton, has 13.9 deer per square mile - the second lowest figure in the state ... the PGC Board of Commissioners took a big step to improve deer numbers in WMU 3D when they voted to cut the antlerless license allocation by 7,000 for the upcoming hunting season...

Anterless allocations decreased in Northumberland County April 16, 2013 Pennsylvania, News Item
... Hunters will have 27,000 antlerless permits available in WMU 4C for over-the-counter sales for the upcoming license year. Agency staff had recommended that 35,000 permits be issued, which is what were issued last year, to continue stabilizing the size of the herd... During the last eight years an estimated 66,700 antlerless deer were taken in 4C for an average of 8,337 per year. During that period the high was 9,800 in '05; the low was 7,100 in '09; and 7,800 were taken during the 2012-13 seasons...

Deer on Presque Isle Peninsula, Erie, PA 2013-04-15



2012-2014 Seasons and Bag Limits Adopted, Doe License Allocations Set April 15, 2013 PGC
... An antlerless deer allocation of 839,000 was approved by the Board for the 2013-14 seasons... The board also approved an elk license allocation of 86; 26 will be antlered elk tags... Other highlights of the new slate of seasons and bag limits included subdividing WMU 2G into two WMUs, which are now recognized as WMUs 2G and 2H (they will be featured in the 2013-2014 Pennsylvania Hunting and Trapping Digest); allowing qualified adult mentors to transfer one Deer Management Assistance Program antlerless deer permit to a youth they are mentoring as part of the Mentored Youth Hunting Program ... Another change eliminates the extended regular firearms season in WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D, except in Special Regulations Area counties – Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties, which will retain the extended regular firearms season in these WMUs...

Changes to reporting deer discussed April 14, 2013 Pennsylvania, Tribune-Review
... Hunters who take a deer are required to report it to the Pennsylvania Game Commission within 10 days of the kill. This past season, though, just 36 percent of hunters who killed a buck and 33 percent who killed a doe reported it ... The commission estimates deer harvest numbers by taking the total hunters report and cross-checking it against deer they examine at butcher shops around the state

Deer disease hits 'trophy hunt' breeders in Central Pa. April 14, 2013 Pennsylvania, Carlisle Sentinel
... Ron Rutters raised 10 white-tailed deer .... 1,100 deer propagators in the commonwealth ... Similar to raising livestock, the lucrative industry is regulated  by the state Department of Agriculture.  ... A straw of semen can fetch $6,500 or more ... Rutters bought and bottle-fed female fawn “Yellow 903,” born on a farm in Lycoming County... Yellow 903” tested positive for chronic wasting disease...

Impact of disease on deer shown April 10, 2013 Pennsylvania, Wilkes Journal Patriot
... As state wildlife officials expected, the deer harvest during the 2012 season dropped sharply in Wilkes and some adjoining counties after a severe outbreak of hemorrhagic disease last summer... The 2,232 deer harvested in Wilkes in 2012 ... Deer harvests for Wilkes totaled 4,222 in 2011, 3,667 in 2010 and 4,546 in 2009...

Vaccine for wasting disease in the works, Chronic Wasting Disease April 7, 2013 Pennsylvania, Tribune-Review
... The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has begun a multiyear study to evaluate the effectiveness of a CWD vaccine on elk. A parallel study is being done on deer in Colorado...  it will take years to get answers...

Deer kill stable, but past seasons still memorable April 7, 2013 Pennsylvania, Republican & Herald
...  an estimated 343,110 deer taken statewide, which represents a two percent increase from the 336,200 taken in 2011-12... "This year's antlered deer harvest is slightly above the average harvest since 2005, when agency efforts began to stabilize deer populations in most of the state," [PGC executive director Carl Roe] "Age structure of the antlered deer harvest was 49 percent 1½-year-old bucks and 51 percent 2½-year-old and older bucks...  the agency may begin to increase the size of the deer herd in some areas of Pennsylvania ...

No satisfaction after Commission's attempt at compromise April 6, 2013 Pennsylvania, Tribune-Review
... Between 2008 and 2011, the commission studied deer and deer hunters in wildlife management units 2D, 2G, 3C and 4B ... Deer populations increased each year in each unit. Yet only in 2G and 3C did hunters see more, and in both cases that amounted to three extra doe a week... The move to a split season also didn't spark an economic boom via a “second opening day effect,” ...  In fact, fewer hunters traveled to camp to hunt the first two days than when seasons were concurrent ...

... Christopher Rosenberry, supervisor of the section, said, "The seven-day season (in which hunters in some of the state's 22 wildlife management units had an antlered-only week followed by a week of concurrent antlered and antlerless) did not achieve its biological objective." Deer populations in some non-concurrent WMUs boomed, despite increased numbers of doe licenses issued to keep them under control...

State antlerless deer herds get scrutiny April 1, 2013 Pennsylvania, Tribune-Review
... Pennsylvania Game Commission biologists want to maintain deer herds at existing levels across most of Pennsylvania this fall... The goal is to reduce the deer herd in wildlife management units 3C and 3D in northeastern Pennsylvania, where deer impacts on forests are still too high, and in units 4A, 5A and 5B, where chronic wasting disease has been found, he said. [the Wisconsin Legislative Budget office determined that reducing deer density to combat CWD has not been successful, supporting reseach: Deer density and disease prevalence influence transmission of chronic wasting disease in white-tailed deer]. ...

Deer harvest up slightly in 2012-13, doe success rate 25 percent March 31, 2013 Pennsyulvania, Pittsburgh Post Gazette
.... According to a report last week by the state Game Commission, the total harvest increased 2 percent from an estimated 336,200 in 2011-12 to 343,110. Hunters shot 133,860 antlered deer, up about 5 percent from the previous kill of 127,540. The antlerless harvest was up too, but barely, with 209,250 taken in 2012-13, 208,660 killed in 2011-12...

... Forty-year-old Arcangelo Bianco Jr. is charged with reckless endangerment for allegedly shooting across a highway to kill a 10-point buck he spotted in a Walmart parking lot in November. The incident occurred in Blairsville, Pa...

... The deer kill climbed substantially in each of the three wildlife management areas -- 1B, 1A, and 2F -- that make up the northwestern portion of Pennsylvania. The deer harvest rose 15.7 percent in that area, which includes Erie, Crawford, Mercer, Venango, Lawrence and Warren counties... The Game Commission had established regulations that a buck in this area must have four antler points on one side. That number has since been reduced to three antler points...

... up two percent ... Spokesman Joe Neville says Chronic Wasting Disease, or CWD, didn't affect harvests much, but the agency will keep the disease on its radar...

Board of Game Commissioners to Hold Working Group Meeting  March 26, 2013 Pennsylvania, PGC News Release
      Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners President Robert W. Schlemmer today announced the Board will be holding a public working group meeting on Monday, April 1. The meeting, which will begin at 8 a.m., will be held in the auditorium of the Game Commission’s Harrisburg headquarters, 2001 Elmerton Avenue, just off the Progress Avenue exit of Interstate 81.
     The working group meeting will be webcast through the agency’s website (www.pgc.state.pa.us) beginning at 8 a.m. This particular working group meeting is being held in advance of the Board of Game Commissioners regularly scheduled quarterly meeting on April 14-15.
     Among the items that will be discussed at the working group meeting are the seasons and bag limits for the 2013-14 seasons that will be the subject of the Board’s meeting on April 14.

2012-13 deer harvests a mixed bag in York, Adams March 25, 2013 Pennsylvania, The Evening Sun
... about 800 fewer bucks were taken ... The deer-harvest drop in wildlife-management unit 5A, which contains most of Adams County and parts of Franklin and Cumberland counties, follows a year in which the unit saw a 24 percent increase in the number of harvests... 

Game Commission Releases 2012-2013 Deer Harvest Estimates March 25, 2013 Pennsylvania, PGC News Release
     The Pennsylvania Game Commission today reported that, in the state’s 2012-13 seasons, hunters harvested an estimated 343,110 deer, which is an increase of about two percent from the previous seasons’ harvest of 336,200.  Hunters took 133,860 antlered deer in the 2012-13 seasons, an increase of about five percent from the previous license year’s harvest of 127,540. Also, hunters harvested 209,250 antlerless deer in 2012-13, which is a slight increase over the 208,660 antlerless deer taken in 2011-12.
     “This year’s antlered deer harvest is slightly above the average harvest since 2005, when agency efforts began to stabilize deer populations in most of the state,” said Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director. “The age structure of the antlered deer harvest was 49 percent 1.5 year-old-bucks and 51 percent 2.5-year-old and older bucks.  “The antlerless hunter success rate remained at about 25 percent for licenses issued. This is on average with harvest success for recent years. The age structure of this year’s antlerless deer harvest was 61 percent adult females, 22 percent button bucks, and 18 percent doe fawns. The rates are similar to long-term averages.”
      For additional information on Pennsylvania’s 2012-13 deer harvest, please go to the agency’s website – www.pgc.state.pa.us – and click on “White-Tailed Deer” on the homepage, and then select 2012-13 Deer Harvest Estimates under “Deer Management.”                                                                                              
 
Witherite explains Game Commission's role in maintaining animal populations March 21, 2013 Pennsylvania, Daily American Online
... Wildlife Conservation Officer Brian Witherite said ... "We're charged with protecting the natural resources of the commonwealth for current and future generations," ... deer, are being closely monitored for chronic wasting disease.  ...  The World Health Organization discourages eating meat that is known to have come from a deer with the disease...

State experts: CWD gets worse, spreads March 21, 2013 Pennsylvania, Altoona Mirror
... commission veterinarian Walt Cottrell and Bureau of Wildlife Management Director Calvin DuBrock detailed how the deadly deer illness' spreads and the prognosis for Blair and Bedford counties, the site of Pennsylvania's first wild outbreak... "There is no place where this disease has ever occurred that it has been stopped," Cottrell said. "There are two things the disease does when it arrives: It gets worse, and it spreads."  Chronic wasting disease, which slowly destroys deer's brains and ends in certain death ...

Hundreds Concerned over Chronic Wasting Disease in Local Deer March 20, 2013 Pennsylvania, WJAC Johnstown
... Standing room only in Roaring Spring Wednesday evening. Hundreds of hunters, farmers, and other outdoor enthusiasts all concerned over one thing--Chronic Wasting Disease in the local deer population.  Brad Myers, PA Game Commission, says, “We tested 3,000 deer for Chronic Wasting Disease. Three came back positive--all three from this area." ...

Lower Merion, Winter deer culling results in Lower Merion March 19, 2013 Pennsylvania, Main Line
... fourth season of deer culling by sharpshooters ... the township brought down a total 100 deer, more than twice the 42 culled in five nights in 2011, McGrath reported. Of that number, 47 were does and 53 bucks.  In all, the township has thinned its herd by 388 since the first culling in winter 2009...

... In his four-year study, Diefenbach, adjunct associate professor of wildlife ecology in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences ... documented deer dispersal behavior that provides insight into how far and how fast CWD could spread among wild deer. "We learned that 70 percent of yearling males will disperse, and the average dispersal is six to seven miles ... Depending on the amount of forest on the landscape, those yearling males may go just a mile or as far as 30 miles."  In Pennsylvania, few young female deer disperse, Diefenbach noted, but when they do, they usually go farther than the males -- some much farther...

Official: PA Senate On Record - Deer Herd Is Fine March 19, 2013 Pennsylvania, The HuntingPA ...
... the Pennsylvania Senate Game and Fish Committee went on record stating that the size of the deer herd is robust and able to withstand a potential additional 100K+ harvest of antlered deer. Those deer will not be subject to the current AR restrictions.  SB 547 Amends Title 34 re special provisions   SB 547 would remove antler restrictions for seniors...

Colorado managed disease that hit Pennsylvania deer, Chronic Wasting Disease March 17, 2013 Pennsylvania, Standard Speaker
... The disease that kills deer, elk and moose but not humans surfaced in Colorado 46 years ago.  "Over time, hunters are less concerned. They've been living with it for a long time," Randy Hampton, spokesman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, said."The mortality is higher so the population stays lower and the need is to harvest fewer deer," ...  in the hardest-hit units, where the disease infected up to 15 percent of deer...

Lower Makefield's archery hunt kills 77 deer March 15, 2013 Pennsylvania, phillyBurbs.com
... Recreational archery hunters killed almost 80 deer between September and January during a Lower Makefield authorized hunt ... The Lower Makefield supervisors have authorized the hunts for about three years in an attempt to reduce the number of deer-involved vehicle accidents in the town... 

... a public hearing will be held at James Madison Univ. to address the spread of a disease in deer that could find its way to Shenandoah National Park... If that disease does start spreading through the park, we would rather not see large scale die offs. That would cause impacts to the system that we really can't predict right now," said Jim Schaberl, the park's division chief of natural and cultural resources...

...  Barry Leonard, information and education supervisor for the south-central region... said it's possible the captive deer in York and Adams went on breeding exchanges at deer farms outside the area, and that's how they caught a disease [chronic wasting disease] that hasn't manifested in the wild population locally... It's possible the "more strict" regulations could be moved to the areas where the disease was found in the wild ... 

Deer Population At Risk March 5, 2013 Pennsylvania, WTAJ
Since 1998 the Pennsylvania Game Commission has tested approximately 43,000 deer and elk samples for Chronic Wasting Disease, and now, 3 deer samples have tested positive for it... CWD is a neurological disease affecting deer and elk that cause the animals to appear disoriented, lose fear, drool, deteriorate and eventually die... 

Money will be factor in dealing with deer disease in Pa. March 4, 2013 Pennsylvania, Tribune-Review
... Cal DuBrock, director of the commission's bureau of wildlife management, said during a news conference Monday in Harrisburg that, prior to last fall, the cost of disease surveillance had been running about $200,000 annually... After a captive deer on an Adams County farm tested positive for wasting disease in October, though, the commission set up a 400-square-mile “disease management area” and stepped up monitoring efforts.  That drove the cost of looking for CWD to $400,000 ... 

Deer among largest ever .. antler restrictions March 2, 2013 Tribune-Review
... Kip Adams, a Pennsylvania-based biologist for Quality Deer Management Association, said his group's annual whitetail report ... will show that regulations like antler restrictions are changing the nature of deer harvests. Hunters are shooting older bucks, with the majority in some states exceeding 31⁄2 years old.  “It's unreal the number of bucks moving into these older age classes,” he said. “And hunters are reaping the benefits ...

Fatal disease found among white-tailed deer March 2, 2013 Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Post Gazette
... three deer killed by hunters during the 2012 rifle deer season in Blair and Bedford counties tested positive for the neurological disorder, chronic wasting disease. In October, a farm-raised penned deer in Adams County tested positive in the state's first confirmed case of CWD... It is believed to occur when normal brain proteins are converted by an unknown agent to an abnormal form.  It is spread through the direct transfer of body fluids and through contaminated soil. There is no known treatment...

Chronic wasting disease hits area March 2, 2013 Pennsylvania, Altoona Mirror
... Pennsylvania's first-ever wild cases of chronic wasting disease - a lethal, contagious brain illness affecting deer ... Blair and Bedford counties are set to come under special Game Commission rules as wildlife officials work to find the outbreak's precise sources, Leonard said. Under those rules, hunters permitted to kill crop-destroying deer on so-called "red tag" farms are ordered to turn in the animals' heads for testing, while officers also plan to test any deer struck and killed by cars ...

Pa. officials confirm wasting disease in wild deer March 1, 2013 Pennsylvania, The Express Times
Chronic wasting disease has been found for the first time in the state's wild deer population, nearly five months after it was initially identified in captive deer ... about 5,000 deer have been tested for the disease statewide, officials said in a statement today. Most results came back negative, although 1,500 samples are still pending...

Chronic Wasting Disease Found in Blair and Bedford Counties March 1, 2013 Pennsylvania, Yahoo! News
The Pennsylvania Game Commission today confirmed three hunter-killed deer taken in the 2012 general firearms deer season have tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). Two were from Blair County; the other was from Bedford County.  "These are the first positive cases of CWD in free-ranging deer in Pennsylvania," confirmed Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe.

Pair whose dogs killed neighbor's deer headed to trial February 28, 2013 Pennsylvania, Daily American Online
A Boswell pair accused of allowing their dogs to wander onto a neighbor's property and kill their deer are going to trial... According to court documents, the Sidones were given permission to shoot the dogs if they were in the fenced-in area attacking their deer

Rep. Martin Causer asks some questions at a recent meeting of the House Game and Fisheries Committee.- February 21, 2013



Upper Makefield board rescinds deer hunt proposal February 20, 2013 Pennsylvania, phillyBurbs.com
... the Upper Makefield supervisors have backtracked on a previous decision to have a professional firm kill deer in the township... Eccologix hunters killed 1,024 deer in Upper Makefield between 2007 and 2010, mostly using bows and arrows. That effort reduced the township's deer population from about 125 per square mile to 90, Schade said at the Feb. 5 meeting.  Since then, it's gone back up to about 125 deer per square mile ... 

Methods of baiting deer have some on opposite sides February 19, 2013 Pennsylvania, Tribune-Review
Commissioner Jay Delaney of Luzerne County wants staff to determine the feasibility of enacting regulations that would prohibit the use of urine-based attractants by deer hunters ... At the same time, a dozen state lawmakers have signed a bill that would legalize baiting statewide. Currently, that's legal only in certain parts of southeastern Pennsylvania ... 

... faulty records at the Adams County farm, where Pennsylvania's first case of the always fatal, brain disease of deer and other cervids was confirmed in October, wrongly indicated that that deer – known as Yellow 903 for its deer farm tag – was born on a Lycoming County farm....

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture today announced quarantines have been lifted on 14 additional deer farms after DNA testing confirmed these farms had no ties to two Adams County deer that died of Chronic Wasting Disease in October 2012...

Mt. Lebanon hiring firm to count deer February 7, 2013 Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Post Gazette
... Commissioners decided to spend up to $12,000, a late addition to the 2013 budget, to conduct surveys to estimate how many deer are in Mt. Lebanon... A survey method commissioners have discussed involves aerial infrared sensor technology ... [Commisioner] Mrs. Fraasch has composed and posted online a four-page document, "Deer in Mt. Lebanon [PDF]," ... she expresses her opposition to hunting by rifle or bow, instead favoring sterilization by removal of does' ovaries as a viable option.  She cites a significant cost savings over the long term and mitigation of some hazards associated with culling...

Solebury ponders action against deer February 6, 2013 Pennsylvania, phillyBurbs.com
At their meeting on Tuesday, the supervisors agreed to spend $7,000 to count the number of deer in the township this winter and spring, as well as create the necessary documentation should the township later agree to a deer-hunting program... The township last sought to reduce the number of deer in the township in 2007, when there were about 155 deer per square mile, said Michael Kennerley, chairman of the deer committee. Afterward, the number dropped to 99 deer per square mile.  Ever since, the number has been increasing, rising from 99 to 105 that following year and then ever upward until the most recent estimate of 141 deer per square mile

Upper Makefield hires deer managment company February 6, 2013 Pennsylvania, phillyBurbs.com
... Eccologix killed 1,024 deer in Upper Makefield between 2007 and 2010 and thinned the population down to about 90 deer per square mile, said company co-owner Eric Schade. It's now climbed back up to about 125 per square mile ... , the supervisors hired Eccologix of Bedminster to kill deer at a cost of $139 per deer up to a maximum of 150... [non lethal options for urban deer management]

Deer season changes fail for lack of support January 30, 2013 Pennsylvania, News Item
A proposed regulation change that would have added four wildlife management units ...  to the 11 WMUs that have 12 days of concurrent antlered and antlerless deer hunting during the firearms deer season failed to get the support ...  Among those in opposition was commissioner Jay Delaney, who pointed out that antlerless populations in each WMU is controlled by the number of antlerless tags issued and not the number of days open to hunting...

Tests on wild deer show no chronic wasting disease so far January 28, 2013 Pennsylvania, The Evening Sun
More than 2,000 samples collected last year from deer killed by hunters and on roadways in the disease management area that included much of Adams and York counties ...The Pennsylvania Game Commission collected the samples as part of containment efforts after the state's first two confirmed cases of CWD were detected last fall in deer raised on a farm in Straban Township in Adams County...

Norristown, Hunters bag 28 deer during Norristown Farm Park hunt January 25, 2013 Pennsylvania, phillyBurbs.com
... A total of 28 hunters, using 12-gauge shotguns, killed 28 deer during the one-day hunt, according to county communications assistant Jessica Willingham... The deer kill included 13 antlerless bucks (young “button” bucks or mature bucks that had shed their antlers) and 15 doe... This is the eighth year for the hunt ...

Surrounded by fawns - deer play and pose for the camera at Wildoood Cemetery in Williamsport, PA - January 24, 2013



Tinicum Conservancy discusses solutions for deer issues January 11, 2013 Pennsylvania, phillyBurbs.com
...  the sportsmen have found it difficult to strike up relationships with certain property owners -- relationships that could open the door for them to hunt on large tracts of privately owned wooded land...  the Tinicum Conservancy ... is considering facilitating the creation of a volunteer organization that would bridge the gap between ethical, responsible hunters and local landowners...

Commission, sportsmen pay for fences around deer farm January 5, 2013 Pennsylvania, Tribune-Review
Sportsmen have paid to keep wild deer from accessing a farm connected to the discovery of chronic wasting disease this past fall.... Two such animals got loose from deer farms this fall. The department of agriculture — again, to the consternation of the Federation — did not notify the public of the escapes. It explained its silence by saying that once a deer is outside a fence, whether it got there intentionally or not, it‘s no longer its business.

Game Commission Welcomes Fox to Board January 4, 2013 Pennsylvania, PGC
Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe today said that when the Board of Game Commissioners holds its first quarterly meeting of 2013, on Jan. 27-29, the Board will have a full complement of eight Game Commissioners.  Charles E. Fox, of Troy, Bradford County, fills the vacancy created when the term of former Game Commissioner Thomas Boop expired.  Fox was nominated by Governor Tom Corbett as resident of Region Five, which includes Bradford, Columbia, Lycoming, Montour, Northumberland, Sullivan, Tioga and Union counties. On Oct. 15, he was confirmed by a unanimous vote of the Senate.

... on Oct. 10, lab tests confirmed chronic wasting disease in a doe that died Oct. 4 in an enclosure on a 1.5-acre property at New Oxford, Adams County .. In Wisconsin, where CWD was confirmed in wild deer in early 2002, making it the first CWD state east of the Mississippi River, state agencies have spent more than $32 million ... the state's Legislative Audit Bureau has reported that the state's efforts to eradicate CWD "have not been effective" ... nearly 10,000 deer-breeding operations already are spread across North America (QDMA) ...

 …In the fall, Pennsylvania Game Commission officials announced the discovery of chronic wasting disease in the Keystone State for the first time. The disease was found in two captive deer ...  hundreds attended game commission hearings on the issue...

DNR immerses itself in social networking, phones for deer hunting? December 22, 2012 Pennsylvania, 77Square.com
In its annual postseason report on deer hunting, the DNR details how well it's tapping into society's widespread use of iPhones, Androids, texts, tweets, chats ... When the Legislature legalized group hunting for firearms deer hunting in 1984, the caveat was that hunters must be within hollering range to swap or share carcass tags... That restriction has been almost universally ignored from the start.

The group of bucks at Straight Pine Elk and Deer in Middleburg, Pa. - December, 2012



New look for Pennsylvania deer hunting seasons? December 18, 2012 PennLive.com 
... Commission staff were directed to come up with a forecast of the implications of opening the rifle season on a Saturday, which would be a major departure from decades of hunting tradition in Pennsylvania.. Commissioner Ronald Weaner warned, "There are a whole lot of our population that are rifle-only hunters, who hunt one day a year or three days a year. I don't want to disenfranchise them by killing off half the deer before they get a change to hunt."

... Samples were taken from about 2,000 deer harvested this fall in the 600-square-mile, chronic wasting disease management area in Adams and York counties ... Of the first samples sent to the lab ... 341 have come back as negative for CWD... Commissioner David Schreffler asked how many deer are known to escape from the 1,100 deer farms across the state.  "The best answer I can give you is, numerous," answered commission Executive Director Carl Roe ...

Board of Game Commissioners to Meet on Jan. 27-29 December 17, 2012 PGC News Release
The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners will hold its first meeting of 2013 on Jan. 27-29, in the auditorium of the agency’s Harrisburg headquarters at 2001 Elmerton Ave., just off the Progress Avenue exit of Interstate 81 in Harrisburg.  A copy of the agenda for the upcoming meeting will be posted on the agency’s website in mid-January.
     On Sunday, Jan. 27, beginning at 1 p.m., the Board will hear public recommendations for 2013-14 hunting and furtaking seasons and bag limits.  Doors will open at noon.  Individuals interested in offering public testimony – limited to five minutes -- may begin to register at noon on a first-come, first-to-speak basis.
     On Monday, Jan. 28, the Board will gather any additional public comments and hear Game Commission staff reports beginning at 8:30 a.m.  Doors open at 7:45 a.m.  Registration for those interested in offering public testimony – limited to five minutes – also will begin at that time.
     On Tuesday, Jan. 29, beginning at 8:30 a.m., the Game Commission will take up its prepared agenda to give preliminary approval to hunting and trapping seasons and bag limits for 2013-14 and establish other meeting dates for the coming year, among other things.  Doors open at 7:45 a.m. Antlerless deer license allocations for the 2013-14 seasons will be presented for the Board to consider at its meeting in April.  Harvest results from the 2012-13 deer seasons will be announced in mid-March.
     For those unable to attend this meeting, the Game Commission will webcast the meeting beginning with the Game Commission staff reports on Monday, immediately following the conclusion of public comments. In addition, the full Board meeting on Tuesday will be webcast beginning at 8:30 a.m.  An icon will be posted on the agency’s website (www.pgc.state.pa.us) on Monday to access the webcasts.

It has set off a heated debate, a federal lawsuit ...  But for the third consecutive year, Valley Forge National Historical Park is proceeding with a deer-culling program ... Before the culling began, the park counted 291 deer per square mile. A "sustainable" population would be closer to 35 per square mile, said Deirdre Gibson, the park's chief of resources.  About 1,000 deer were killed during the first two years of the program, reducing the herd to 71 per square mile ...

New rule proposed to help curb deer disease December 16, 2012 Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
... Under the CWD Herd Certification Program, USDA would set up a voluntary federal-state-industry cooperative program in which commercial deer farmers would certify their herds as CWD-free. The proposed program provides no consequences for failure to participate.

Pa deer harvest estimate not accurate December 15, 2012 Pennsylvania The HuntingPA.com
 "Applying rifle-season reporting rates to other seasons resulted in overestimating harvest by 26–28%. Variability of reporting rates precluded use of reported harvests as reliable indices of actual harvest."  ... Now fast forward to currently. They STILL are using the rifle only rate which bloats the figures even though they admit it was not accurate to do so. This is from the pa game commission website...

Reporting deer harvests growing rare December 15, 2012 New York, Tribune-Review
 ... hunters are required by law to report killing a deer to the Pennsylvania Game Commission... “Thirty-seven percent of antlered deer and 33 percent of antlerless deer were reported in 2011,” said Chris Rosenberry, the commission‘s lead deer biologist. “Generally, there has been a steady downward trend (in reporting) since 1982. Reporting rates have dropped 20 percent in the last 30 years.” ... The New York Department of Environmental Conservation requires hunters to report killing a deer within seven days of taking it, said spokeswoman Lori Severino. Yet, “in general, the reporting rate is between 40 and 45 percent,”

CWD Not Found in Huntingdon County Escaped Deer December 12, 2012 Pennsylvania, Gant Daily
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has confirmed that Chronic Wasting Disease was not detected in an escaped deer known by its farm tag “Purple 4.” The doe escaped from an unlicensed deer farm in Alexandria ... “Purple 4″ was shot by a hunter last month and tested at the Pennsylvania State Veterinary Laboratory...

Deer Wars: Do Antler Restrictions Really Work? December 11, 2012 Pennsylvania, pawildlifephotographer.blogspot.com
Dr. Gary Alt was responsible for a lot of changes in Pennsylvania's deer management program during his tenure as chief of the deer management program ... the two features that drew the most attention were his herd reduction program and antler restrictions... we must consider if they work.  In my experience they definitely do, as todays' photographs will illustrate, and I can show case after case of similar examples.

Game Commission Reminds Hunters to Report Deer Harvests December 10, 2012 Pennsylvania, PGC News
      With the two-week statewide general deer season closed, Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe is encouraging hunters to take the time to report harvested deer through the online reporting system, through the new toll-free Interactive Voice Response (IVR) telephone reporting system or by using the postage-paid report cards included in the 2012-13 Digest provided free to each license buyer.
     “Unfortunately, based on more than 20,000 deer checked by Game Commission deer aging teams last year, less than 40 percent of hunters who harvested deer took the time to report that harvest.”  Roe noted that one of the recommendations to improve the agency’s deer management program from the 2010 Legislative Budget and Finance Committee’s audit of the deer management program was to increase harvest reporting rates. As a result, the Game Commission now offers three convenient methods for hunters to report harvests and, based on recent surveys, Pennsylvania’s hunters consider the postage-paid report cards, online and phone reporting systems to be easy and convenient.
     To report a deer harvest online, go to the Game Commission’s website (www.pgc.state.pa.us), click on “Report Your Harvest” above the “Quick Clicks” box in the right-hand column, click on “You can link to PALS by clicking here,” check “Harvest Reporting,” scroll down and click on the “Start Here” button at the bottom of the page, choose the method of validating license information, and click on the checkbox for the harvest tag being reported... The toll-free Interactive Voice Response (IVR) telephone harvest reporting system can be accessed by dialing 1-855-PAHUNT1 (1-855-724-8681). Hunters should have their Customer Identification Number (hunting license number) and field harvest tag information with them when they call, and should speak clearly and distinctly when reporting harvests, especially when providing the Wildlife Management Unit number and letter.

Tyler State Park, If deer hunts worked, there would be fewer deer  December 9, 2012    Burlington County Times
This is the 25th consecutive year that Tyler State Park officials have sanctioned the slaughter of deer. This fact demonstrates the futility of the hunt, because if it truly worked to reduce the population, the hunt would not have to be repeated year after year... Verne Smith, a professor who teaches animal law at Widener University says, "Hunting decreases the herd one year and increases it the next. It's called compensatory rebound and the DCNR knows these facts. Wildlife scientists showed that twin-fawn births were almost three times greater in hunted herds. Hunting provides the PGC with license revenues and residents with a feeling that something is being done about deer numbers.

Sportsmen upset with agriculture's lack of transparency, CWD December 8, 2012 Pennsylvania, Tribune-Review
... The Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs — the state’s largest sportsmen’s organization — sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary George Greig ... a “lack of timely and informative communications.”  “It leads to questions of whether the agency is doing its due diligence to investigate and manage the potential risks associated with current and future cervid farming practices and how it all relates to the potential risks to the wild cervid populations,” ... [with regard to chronic wasting disease]

Presque Isle, 18 deer taken during three days of Presque Isle hunt December 8, 2012 Pennsylvania, GoErie.com
... The combined antlered and antlerless deer hunt is held to help manage the deer population at Presque Isle. Eight deer were taken during the three-day hunt at the park in 2011, 15 in 2010, nine in 2009, 19 in 2008, and 20 in 2007 ...

... The escaped deer known by its farm tag Pink 23 ... To date, two deer have tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease. As a result, the agriculture department has quarantined 24 farms in 12 counties...

Tyler State Park, Hunters, protesters at Tyler for annual deer hunt December 6, 2012 Pennsylvania, phillyBurbs.com
“The hunt is an exercise in futility, or as we like to call it, an execution in futility, because it has the effect of actually increasing the number of deer,” said Pearl. “It has the effect of making the deer reproduce that much faster ... The number of deer killed in the most recent hunt was not available Wednesday. Before the most recent hunt, the total was 2,577 since the hunts started in 1987. The average yearly harvest is 117....
At least 2661 deer have been killed by hunters in Tyler State Park, and there is no end in sight ...

Casey seeks deer farmers' help with chronic wasting disease December 5, 2012 Pennsylvania, York Dispatch Online
Deer and elk farmers in York and across the United States could soon be asked to help the state and federal government monitor chronic wasting disease in their animals... Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., is asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to adopt a rule that calls for monitoring deer and elk that cross state lines.  The USDA issued an interim rule earlier this year ... 

... Between 135 and 140 hunters are expected to participate in the shotgun hunt ...also expected to show up is a group of protestors who plan on arriving at the entrance to the park on Route 332 around 7:30 a.m ...  Barbara Pearl, a college math professor from Lower Makefield ... wants [Parks Manager] Barth to start a task force to look at non-lethal options... On average, about 100 deer per year are harvested for the regulated shotgun hunt. 

Armed with .22- and .17-caliber rifles, they drove around the Pennsylvania-West Virginia border at night spotlighting and opening fire on deer, mortally wounding some and leaving others to suffer for days before dying.. .three years later, new state laws are targeting "thrill kill" wildlife poachers with higher penalties ... Nevertheless, the new laws have not curbed the trend in thrill-kill poaching. The number of poaching cases has significantly increased since the laws were enacted...

Dumped deer carcasses: Nearly 'an epidemic down here' December 1, 2012 Pennsylvania, York Daily Record
... David Thompson likes to drive around his corner of York County looking for wildlife ... he has seen deer carcasses all over... "It looks like they're just cutting some meat off of them and throwing it out," ...

Meadows Announcer Plays Along When Deer Get Onto Track November 30, 2012 Pennsylvania, CBS Local
... three deer got onto the course ...  veteran announcer Roger Huston ... began calling the race that was going on... “As they race down the track, Bambi has the lead. Here comes Rudolph from the outside.” ...

Pa. man allegedly poached deer in CWD area November 30, 2012 Pennsylvania, Ct Post
The state game commission says 28-year-old Michael Moffitt is also a convicted felon forbidden to possess a firearm who dragged the deer's carcass across a York County elementary school campus on Tuesday. Moffitt was reportedly being held on $75,000 bail ...

Deer killed after escape from farm where CWD found November 27, 2012 Pennsylvania, Ct Post
... A deer that escaped from a Pennsylvania farm where two others were diagnosed with a deadly neurological disease [Chronic Wasting Disease] has been killed...

Hunter shoots escaped deer known as "Pink 23" November 27, 2012 Pennsylvania, York Daily Record
...A doe that escaped quarantine at an Adams County deer farm in October was shot by a hunter ... State veterinarians identified the doe on Monday, the first day of firearms deer season in Pennsylvania, by its pink farm tag... 

"Pink 23" shot half a mile from deer farm where she escaped November 27, 2012 Pennsylvania,  The Patriot-News
A doe that escaped from a quarantined Adams County deer farm in October was shot by a hunter Monday and is now being tested for Chronic Wasting Disease, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture... A second deer known as "Purple 4," which escaped from a farm in Huntington County, has not been found...

Chronic Wasting Disease keeps hunters check point busy November 26, 2012 Pennsylvania, Patriot-News
... Any deer shot north of Routes 30 and 116 in York County or the eastern portion of Adams County needs to be checked for CWD. The disease, a cousin of Mad Cow Disease, was discovered in two deer on a captive farm outside New Oxford earlier this fall... The Game Commission needs to check at least 400 deer to have a statistically significant sample of the herd...

Deer hunting season underway, antler restrictions November 26, 2012 Pennsylvania, Towanda Daily Review
... Antler restrictions in place this year mirror those from the previous year. For Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B and 2D, hunters need to identify three antler points, not including the brow tine, which is the point immediately above the antler burr. In the remainder of the state, antler restrictions remain a minimum of at least three points on one side...

Search by keyword above or find links to state news stories organized by topic. 






Data: In 2011 the deer population was estimated at between 1.3 and 1.5 million by the Pennsylvania Game Commission or about 1.37 million. The deer population was estimated at 1.2 million in 2010, 1.1 million in 2008,  1.4 million in 2002,  to 1.5 million in 2000.

According to the Nature Tourism project, the deer population grew from 1.2 million deer in 2006 to 1.6 million in 2011. After antler restrictions on hunters were introduced in 2002, the observed ratio of button bucks to adult bucks dropped from 15-to-1 in the winter of 2002 to 2-to-1 in 2004. The observed ratio of adult doe to adult bucks fell from 14-to-1 to 2-to-1 over that period. 90 percent of all deer are conceived between mid-October and mid-December.
The elk herd has grown from roughly 65 in 1971 to about 800 in 2011.

Other useful links:
Deer Chronicles - Pennsylvania Game Commission bi-annual publication.
Information about Chronic Wasting Disease from PGC  
Pennsylvania Game Commission
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Deer Management Plan: "Pennsylvania's Constitution and Game and Wildlife Code direct the Game Commission to protect, manage, and preserve wildlife and their habitat . . . for the benefit of all people, including generations yet to come." PA DCNR - Managing Deer and Forests, Mission Statement May 20, 2011 Pennsylvania Management