Commentary: Time to implement second half of Gary Alt’s plan with an October doe season in Pennsylvania

In the late 1990s I worked as a full-time wildlife conservation officer and part of my duties at that time was to escort Pennsylvania Game Commission deer biologist Gary Alt to his public meetings on antler restrictions if they were in my district.

The security escort was necessary because he was receiving threats from selfish/foolish hunters as a result of his antler restriction recommendations. Obviously, we know now the antler restrictions were a huge success.

What people do not know is the second step of Alt’s plan was to have rifle doe hunting statewide in the last week of October. According to his plan, this would be the only time of year you harvest does and hunters would take all the does they wanted to harvest out of the population before breeding season.

MORE COVERAGE FROM PENNSYLVANIA OUTDOOR NEWS:

Southwest Pennsylvania poachers nabbed after killing 19 deer

Lotteries open for moose, elk hunts in eastern states

Notes off a soiled cuff: What is limiting the growth potential of Pennsylvania’s elk herd?

By doing this, we would not be rifle hunting pregnant females like we do now (only shooting one doe not two). Also, we would not be wasting the genetics of the bigger bucks we are making with the antler restrictions.

As it is now, these big bucks are breeding the does the first two weeks of November, then we shoot the pregnant does three weeks later with a rifle!

Hunting does only with a rifle the last week of October (and not harvesting any more does after Oct. 31) would allow many more people (young and old) the nice weather to harvest a deer without as much pressure.

The additional rifle hunting week also would provide a second opening day, twice the deer camp use and income for businesses.

I still bleed Game Commission green and I have tried to suggest this to the agency’s biologists to increase their commission’s popularity with the public, but the idea has been ignored.