Mark Nale: Pennsylvania game commissioners got it right on doe license allocations

At their April 2023 meeting, the Board of Game Commissioners made the right move toward better scientific management of Pennsylvania’s deer herd. They shocked some hunters by not interfering with the antlerless license allocations put forth by Game Commission biologists. Past practice was for commissioners to field “there-are-no-deer” complaints from hunters and then to ask for reduced allocations for wildlife management units within their district. This brought hunters into the equation, but it wasn’t good for wildlife management. Have you ever met a deer hunter who said that there were too many deer?