Pennsylvania Game News - September 2024 - 8

harvest to determine the extent and sample
prevalence of the disease, " Korman
said. Biologists would like to get 250
deer per DMAP unit, a target that hunters
have hit in several units previously.
There are seven CWD DMAP units
this year - three fewer than last year -
though two of those that remain, DMAP
Units 6367 and 6396, are larger than
before. Maps of specifi c CWD DMAP
units can be found at https://bit.ly/PAcwd.
FINDING
WHITETAILS
Wherever hunters go, they should
look for certain things if they hope to
fi nd deer.
" It comes down to food and cover, "
Stainbrook said. " In early archery, there
are often more food sources available
with green browse and sometimes hard
and soft mast. So scout for fresh sign.
Trail cameras can certainly be a useful
tool to determine daytime versus nighttime
use of an area.
" Remember, though, deer have a
home range of hundreds of acres. There
is no guarantee the 'one' will walk by
when you are out there. "
Later, buck home ranges expand
when the rut kicks in, but focusing on
seasonal food sources and nearby cover
- which is where does will be - is still a
good bet, Stainbrook said.
It's an exciting time, too.
" The rut is a great time to be in the
woods, from the end of October to the
last day of archery, " he said.
Later still, when the statewide fi rearms
season rolls around, food remains
important to deer, Stainbrook added. But
being able to remain hidden is key, as
well.
" Thick cover where they know they
8
don't typically see pressure can be used
year-round, " Stainbrook said. " Once a
deer learns an area where it's not disturbed,
it seeks it out. That's why older
deer are harder to harvest. They already
know where to go, so you have to fi nd
that place or catch them on their way to
or from that place. "
" In an area that's been heavily pressured,
that might mean having to venture
into thicker cover or go farther from
roads and parking areas to get to where
the deer are. "
You can wait until hunting season to
look for those places. But generally, the
better strategy is to spend time in the
woods scouting before hunting season -
and again after, when you can use snow
to see deer travel routes and bedding areas
to prep for next year.
The Game Commission off ers a number
of online, digital maps that highlight
diff erent habitat types, the location of
DMAP areas, places that have been
treated with prescribed fi re and more.
Visit this map - https://bit.ly/pgcmapcenter
- for example, and you can fi nd
the location of oak forests, winter thermal
cover like conifers, aspen stands,
herbaceous openings like fi elds, and timber
cuts. Those last are deer magnets, offering
food in the form of woody browse
and new growth, as well as escape cover.
Click on a timber cut on the map and
you'll see how many acres were done
and what year the cut occurred. That's
valuable information.
" Anything in the fi ve- to 20-year-old
range tends to be pretty good for deer, "
Weiss said. " That's when it off ers the
browse and the cover deer are looking
for the most. So those younger cuts are a
good place to start.
" And if you fi nd cut areas on a DMAP
https://bit.ly/PA https://www.bit.ly/pgcmap
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2024

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