The USP has just filed a permanent injunction in Commonwealth Court requesting the halt of antlerless deer hunting on SGL and SF land, pending scientific substantiation by the PGC to justify the need to issue 865,000 doe permits.

On September 7, 2007 the Unified Sportsmen of PA (USP) filed suit in PA Commonwealth Court requesting injunctive relief to save our public land deer herds.  Unified is requesting all antlerless deer hunting cease on State Game Lands and State Forest Lands until such time the PGC can substantiate and justify the need to continue to decimate our public land deer.  Unified is not requesting antlerless deer hunting cease on private land.  Of course, USP was granted standing by the Court in their previously unsuccessful attempt to hold the PGC accountable for their statewide assault on our deer resource.  At this time, it is believed this case will most likely proceed to depositions and oral arguments.

           If you have been paying close attention the deer program has changed dramatically this year without a formal announcement.  From the 1999/2000 mantra of "1.6 million deer" and the pending cataclysmic demise of our forested ecosystems to the current mantra of "healthy forests, healthy deer, reduced deer conflicts" the PGC has slowly distanced itself from numbers.  Actually, Mr. Carl Roe, Executive Director of the PGC and other PGC personnel will readily admit they do not know how many deer we have.  The instant comeback to such an admission has been, "then, why issue 865,000 doe permits if you don't know what we have".  The PGC wants to talk "trends" and the hunters want to talk "numbers".  With luck the Court will direct the PGC to get back to basics.  Science is numbers and no other method will be accepted by our hunters other than "quantitative" deer management.  How many do we have and how many should we harvest is standard quantitative deer management in every state in the Union.

           This new mantra and approach by the PGC is commonly referred to as "qualitative" deer management.  This is a throwback to the days of looking at the woods and evaluating the plant life.  If a plant is missing from the forest floor the only explanation is the deer must have consumed it.  We have known all along that simply isn't true.  Many species of plants will not grow in our terribly acidic soils.  Obviously, qualitative deer management is totally subjective, wide open to prejudice, ambiguous and anything, but scientific.

           Another management parameter the PGC has been pushing as of late is reproduction.  In theory, reducing deer populations was supposed to allow regeneration to explode creating new and abundant food and thus, deer reproduction would go up.  Ironically, neither occurred.  Regeneration did not explode and deer reproduction numbers actually went down slightly.  In essence, the entire deer program has failed.  Our long-standing reproduction numbers of 1.5 fawns per adult doe and 25% of our fawns breeding each year was healthy, normal and similar to most states around the country.  It is only in farming regions where reproduction is greater.

           When you put it all together the PGC is going down the tubes with our deer herd and the future of hunting in PA looks very bleak.  The PGC is literally driving hunters out of the sport as they continuously move themselves closer to insolvency and ultimately, bankruptcy.  This is for certain.  What we don't know for certain is who is actually driving this runaway train.  Is Cal DuBrock, Bureau Chief of Wildlife at the PGC the mastermind of this ludicrous deer management or is policy being dictated to him?  Do our Commissioners dictate policy to the PGC handed to them by the Administration through DCNR?  Are we killing our deer to make room for the elk at the food bowl?

           At this point the USP call for injunctive relief is certainly appropriate.  We need to get to the bottom of this runaway agenda that seems to have no purpose except the eradication of our deer herd.  USP must be commended for their tenacity and their courage to stand up and fight for sensible, credible and scientific deer management.

           Unfortunately the PGC has brought this trouble upon themselves.  They have ignored and criticized the USP for literally decades.  They have pursued their own agenda at the expense of their primary supporters - Pennsylvania sportsmen.  It should come as no surprise that sportsmen have turned to the courts for relief and will continue to do so until their voices are heard.  

Sorry Doc~ you may kick me off this site but that is BS.

I agree Osprey, it's a bunch of bull.

Another waste of money by the USP. I wish the PGC could sue them back to recoup the court costs. I'll bet this suit is thrown out before it gets started.

When will these guys learn???  

--Last edited by Buff on 2007-09-09 06:16:25 --

Doc, the USP is stating there is no re-growth in the forrest but yet the penned in areas of clear cuts on state game lands  have grown 3 fold of trees, grape vines, and other fruit bearing vegitation that the deer AND OTHER animals could not consume while they were young saplings.

I am seening more healther deer in the woods this year, fatter and maybe even bigger.I do't totally agree with the USP thinking on this one.Sound more like a political stance and not a helpful stance.

I am not surprised by the lawsuit but I am very surprised by your statements, Doc????

Did I read your post right?  The USP needs to be commended, and the PGC should be held accountable for the decimation of the deer herd.

Seems out of character to me.

While I agree that the PGC should do a better job educating the public on thier programs with scientific dats that supports thier program, I totally disagree with your comments.

I did not write the information about the lawsuit.. someone else wrote the article and I got it in an E-mail .. does sound like someone who ssupports the USP wrote it and that sure as HELL AIN'T ME

Quote :

Dr Trout wrote : I did not write the information about the lawsuit.. someone else wrote the article and I got it in an E-mail .. does sound like someone who ssupports the USP wrote it and that sure as HELL AIN'T ME

I was wondering.  I read your post twice.  It seemed liked those statements would not come from you.  

  I am so glad you clarified that info and the statements!!

Like dpms; I too thought you were changing your ideas and deer management views, you were scaring me ole buddy!!

Ain't it great to know that a "sportsmen's" organization would file a suit to prevent youth from going on their first hunt, prevent old-timers from going on what might be their last hunt, ignore the costs of permits for people who "already have them" but would then not get any return for their money, and just generally take over the decision making process of when and where hunters may, or may not, participate?
Lovely!

Plus they are opening the door for other organizations to stick their foot in also.

I just wonder what the general membership of the group thinks about spending their dues on such stupid ventures... I would think they could find better things to spend the club's money on ???

Youth hunts, habitat projects, etc ..

Quote :

For Immediate Release by the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania On September 7, 2007 the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania petitioned Commonwealth Court to put a halt to all antlerless deer hunting on State Game Lands and State Forest Lands. Our request for injunctive relief demands the PA Game Commission to scientifically document and substantiate the need to further reduce our valued deer herd on public lands. For the past six years the Game Commission and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources have conducted an accelerated deer reduction program resulting in the harvest of more than 3 million deer. This program has been in direct contradiction to the "careful, expert and scientific" mandate required of the PA Game Commissioners who oversee Game Commission policy. The Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania believe the Game Commission has violated the law as well as abused its discretionary authority in the execution of its deer management program. The PA Game Commission readily acknowledges they do not know how many deer exist in Pennsylvania , and have resorted to subjective and ambiguous evaluations to determine deer densities rather than sound, scientific and numerical data. Such unconventional and careless decision making has resulted in a dramatic and quite possibly an unsustainable decline of our public land deer herd. As a result of such capricious and arbitrary action, the Game Commission has been negligent in their responsibility to properly manage our state animal, the whitetail deer. Deer hunting in Pennsylvania is a $4 billion per year industry touching the lives of millions of PA citizens. The Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania believe the present deer management policies threaten the future of deer hunting in the Commonwealth. Gregory D. Levengood Chairman of the Board Unified Sportsmen of PA

I'm really surprised at the ho-hum reaction to this crap. A few folks post comments but it seems many could care less.
I have to wonder if the general hunting public even has a clue as to the ramifications of what this can do, even if it is eventually thrown out of court........