Pennsylvania Game News - June 2016 - 40

Deer harvests 2015-16

2014-15 harvests shown in parentheses
Antlered
Antlerless

WMU 1A:
WMU 1B:
WMU 2A:
WMU 2B:
WMU 2C:
WMU 2D:
WMU 2E:
WMU 2F:
WMU 2G:
WMU 2H:
WMU 3A:
WMU 3B:
WMU 3C:
WMU 3D:
WMU 4A:
WMU 4B:
WMU 4C:
WMU 4D:
WMU 4E:
WMU 5A:
WMU 5B:
WMU 5C:
WMU 5D:
Unknown:

6,000 (5,100)
6,900 (5,800)
6,500 (5,100)
5,200 (4,300)
9,100 (7,000)
12,300 (11,400)
4,700 (4,400)
7,000 (6,000)
6,100 (4,800)
1,400 (1,700)
4,300 (3,300)
6,800 (6,000)
7,600 (6,500)
3,500 (4,200)
5,100 (3,300)
5,700 (4,600)
5,400 (4,800)
7,200 (6,500)
6,200 (5,800)
2,900 (2,400)
8,000 (6,900)
7,400 (8,000)
2,200 (1,300)
80 (60)

9,100 (10,800)
7,700 (8,800)
10,500 (9,600)
15,000 (13,000)
8,490 (9,029)
15,700 (16,400)
5,300 (5,600)
5,400 (5,900)
4,100 (4,700)
1,400 (1,100)
4,000 (4,300)
7,400 (8,100)
10,500 (10,300)
3,700 (5,200)
8,670 (6,805)
7,000 (5,600 )
5,000 (5,000)
7,443 (6,848)
6,900 (5,900)
4,600 (3,300)
11,500 (12,400)
13,600 (22,200)
5,200 (3,800)
30 (31)

restrictions were put into place. More
yearling bucks are making it through
the first hunting season through which
they carry a rack.
Season after season, a greater proportion of the annual buck harvest has
been made of adult bucks.
In 2014-15, 57 percent of the bucks
taken by hunters were 2½ or older.
"But to see that number now at nearly 60 percent is remarkable," Laroche
said. "It goes to show what antler restrictions have accomplished - they've
created a Pennsylvania where every
deer hunter in the woods has a real
40

chance of taking the buck of a lifetime."
While the 137,580 bucks taken in
2015-16 is a sharp increase over 201415, it compares to a 2013-14 estimate of
134,280 bucks. In 2014-15, a number of
factors including poor weather on key
hunting days and limited deer movements due to exceptionally abundant
mast contributed to a reduced deer
harvest overall.
The decrease in the 2015-16 antlerless harvest was a predictable outcome,
given that 33,000 fewer antlerless
licenses were allocated statewide in
2015-16, compared to the previous
year.
Reducing the allocation within a
Wildlife Management Unit allows deer
numbers to grow there.
Records show it takes an allocation of about four antlerless licenses
to harvest one antlerless deer, and the
success rate for antlerless-deer hunters
again was consistent at about 25 percent
in 2015-16.
Game Commission Executive Director R. Matthew Hough congratulated
deer hunters on their successes afield
during the 2015-16 seasons.
"While the Game Commission again
reduced the number of antlerless licenses that were allocated in 2015-16, and
the antlerless harvest dropped accordingly, as expected, the overall increase
in the harvest - and, in particular, the
buck harvest - show this was another
outstanding deer season in Pennsylvania," Hough said. "The pictures I've
seen of trophy bucks this season came
from all over the Commonwealth - including the big woods of the northcentral - and they were jaw-dropping and
impressive. And the best news is there
are plenty of new memories waiting to
be made when deer hunters get back
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - June 2016
