The Pennsylvania Game Commission, faced with a constant stream of criticism of its deer management program, stated Thursday that it is adding “more direction and focus� to program.
The PGC said its new approach will rely heavily on data collection and analysis to measure the quality of the deer population and forest habitat.
“There has to be a solid scientific foundation from which deer management recommendations are made to ensure program integrity and to monitor change,� stated Deer Management Section Supervisor Christopher Rosenberry.
The strategies for collecting and analyzing deer health information will involve using reproductive data from each Wildlife Management Unit. Under the guidelines of the new measures, deer health would be gauged as good from 30 percent or more of fawns are bred; when 2-year-old females have 1.5 fawns or more; and when females age 3 or older have 1.7 fawns or more.
Forest habitat health will be gauged as good when at least percent of sampled plots have adequate regeneration to replace the current forest canopy.
“These measures will provide deer managers and Pennsylvanians more details — a clearer picture of what’s going on,� Rosenberry stated.
For the full news release on the PGC's deer management measures, click here.
For a detailed overview and explanation of the new measures, click here.
To discuss these new measures in our forum, The Exchange, click here.
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Meanwhile, the PGC posted its complex deer harvest estimating procedures on its Web site (www.pgc.state.pa.us.). The mathematical formulas take into account information from hunter report cards, field checks and mark-recapture estimators.
“We encourage individuals who care to learn more about how the process works to read the document,� Rosenberry said.
For the full news release on this topic, click here.
To see the full details of the deer harvest estimating procedures, click here.
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