Are Antler Restrictions Working In Pennsylvania?

Jason Miles

Psychology

jmiles@lhup.edu

What Is An Antler Restriction?

Why Have 3 or 4 Point Areas?

Why Manage The Deer Herd In PA?

Are Antler Restrictions Working?

Deer Management In the Past

Introduction

In this website, I will attempt to give insight into a plethora of questions regarding the antler restrictions in Pennsylvania.  For example, "Are antler restrictions working in Pennsylvania?"  This question has been most controversial throughout PA.  Some hunters cite that the game commission is keeping youth hunters from getting their first buck or they say hunters are going to kill illegal bucks and leave them lay. Other questions I will delve into include all of the following:  "what is an antler restriction", "what were the reasons for the restrictions in Pennsylvania", "are the restrictions working", and "what is going on with the research at the present time"?

Why Were Antler Restrictions Put Into Affect? 

    First to understand why antler restrictions were put into affect, we need to further understand where we have been in terms of deer management in Pennsylvania.  By the late 1800's, nearly all of Pennsylvania's woods were converted into agricultural fields (Pennsylvania Game Commission, 2004).  As a result, deer were very scarce throughout the area.  Around 1910 antlerless deer attained total protection.  Combing total protection with forests that were starting to regenerate set in motion a deer population explosion (Pennsylvania Game Commision,2004).  By the 1930's Pennsylvania's woods were being dangerously over browsed by the overpopulation of deer.  Biologists could not persuade more hunters to shoot more does or antlerless deer to restore a healthy deer population.  By 1957 the game commission held the first annual doe season.  Still the harvests were not adequate to control the explosion in the deer population.  I can still see the effects of this generation not wanting to shoot does in my own family.  Still to this day neither my dad nor my uncles like shooting does if they don't need the meat. According to the game commission (2004), the deer population cannot be controlled just by shooting bucks.  So as you can see, deer mismanagement in Pennsylvania has been displayed for the past century and has led up to the present day antler restrictions. As a consequence, habitat has been destroyed for the deer themselves along with many other species in the wild as well.  According to the PA Game commission, we were trying to raise more deer in Pennsylvania than the land could sustain by not shooting more does who produce offspring.  He goes on further to say that this mistake threatens our forest ecosystem and the future of hunting itself.  In addition, this mismanagement has caused a need for one of the largest and most extensive research studies of wildlife to date. 

    Dr. Gary Alt a wildlife biologist with the Pennsylvania Game Commission stated that very few states can match the enthusiasm that hunters in Pennsylvania have despite the fact that many of its one million hunters have never seen a heavy antlered three and a half year old buck in the woods.  As a result of the mismanagement, deer older than two and a half years have made up one percent of the bucks taken in Pennsylvania. Yearling bucks (1 1/2-year olds) have made up 85 percent of Pennsylvania's buck harvest (Pyne, L., 2004).  Traditional antler restrictions for a legal buck were one spike three inches long or two or more points on one antler.  By increasing the number of points required for a buck to be legal will result in a significant increase of younger bucks who will live longer than one year which in turn, will allow them to grow the bigger racks that hunters so desperately yearn for. Moreover, by increasing the age of young bucks, a more natural breeding ecology will be instated in the deer herd (Alt, G., 2004).  In sum, antler restrictions were put into affect for two reasons.  One reason is to balance the deer herd with its environment.  Some area forests were so over browsed by deer that some shrubs and young trees are gone completely (Pyne, L., 2004). Dr. Alt said his goal is to reduce the overall deer herd from 5-10 percent each year.  The second is to restore a more natural breeding ecology which in turn will allow a greatly improved buck to doe ratio.  The goal to accomplish this was to allow 50-75 percent of yearling bucks survive to the next hunting season and to encourage hunters to harvest more does.

Old Antler Restrictions

In order for a buck to be legal to shoot it must have at least one point that was three or more inches in length or two or more points to one antler or side, with each point being one inch from base to tip in order for it to be a legal point.   The main beam counted as a point regardless of length.

   New Antler Restrictions

    The new antler restrictions proposed in 2001 required a buck to have three points to one antler and some areas four points to an antler.  A point must be at least one inch in length from the base to tip.  The main beam counts as a point regardless of length.

 3 points on each side                                                                          4 points on one side

This picture below is an example of a buck that would have been legal to shoot with the old antler restrictions but since the three or four points on one antler regulations were implemented, this buck is no longer legal to harvest.

Picture 1

    You might ask the question, " why four points to an antler in some areas?".  A four point minimum to an antler was put in place in Western Pennsylvania due to the habitat found there encourages larger antler development at younger ages, even among yearlings (Moyer, B., 2004).

    Until recently, the largest study of wildlife included 75 animals.  The present study included the capture 2,023 deer over a three year period from 2001- 2004 in Armstrong and Centre counties.  Of the 2,023 deer that were captured, 551 were bucks that were radio-marked (Pennsylvania Game Commission,2004).  Deer were captured by using rocket nets, clover traps, and dart guns.  This study attempted to monitor the survival of bucks from six months of age to 30 months of age as well as the movements of bucks from six to 30 months of age, examine the changes in male structure due to antler restrictions, and evaluate hunter satisfaction with the restrictions.  Along with the antler restrictions came an increase in the state's antlerless deer licenses in 2002.  The goal was to dramatically increase the harvest of does in order to balance the herd.  Another factor that was added in the mix was a concurrent buck and doe season.  Meaning that in the two weeks of the annual rifle season one could shoot a doe and a buck.  This was a dramatic change from the traditional two week buck season followed by a 3 day doe season in mid December.  This allowed greater opportunity for does to be harvested to counteract their significant under harvest in past years when hunters only had three days a year to harvest a doe.  In addition, this allowed hunters to be more selective in the doe they harvested.  The game commission urged hunters to let button bucks or first year bucks live until next season.  It was hoped that hunters would pass on these first year does (illegal bucks) and harvest an older adult doe, refer to picture 1 (illegal buck or antlerless deer) and picture 2 (adult doe).

Picture 2

  Are Antler Restrictions Working?

    Over the three year study, it appears that antler restrictions are working.  Pennsylvania's doe harvest has increased by 65 percent to an average of 315,000.  Buck harvest has dropped 24 percent to roughly 154,000.  The yearling buck mortality has dropped from 85 percent of all bucks harvested to 57 percent of all bucks harvested allowing them to live longer and grow bigger racks as predicted.  Probably the most significant finding is that the ratio of adult does to adult bucks has gone from 14-1 to almost 2-1 in just three years of monitoring (see table 1).  The radio collars that were attached to the deer that were captured allowed researchers to monitor their survival.  They found that nearly 90 percent of all adult bucks that survived the 2002 hunting season were still available to hunt in the 2003 season.  After the first year of the new antler restrictions, the average age of all bucks harvested went up from 1.5 years to 2.5 years of age.  Researchers predict that this year the average age of all bucks harvested will be 3.5.  In 2003, almost half of the yearling bucks and a third of  two and a half year old bucks survived the hunting season.  Gary alt stated, "for the first time in my life a lot of three year old bucks are coming into the population.  Moreover, according to the game commissions extensive research study, twice as many bucks are surviving the hunting seasons than had been in the past before the new antler restrictions. Of the 551 bucks that were tagged during the study, 260 of them are currently still walking the landscape of Pennsylvania.

Table 1

    In regard to hunters concerns that even if they passed up young bucks until the next hunting season, they would die of other causes i.e. automobile accidents and starving.  Research has indicated that 90 percent of the bucks that survive the hunting season make it to the next hunting season (Pennsylvania Game Commission, 2004).  Studying the radio tagged bucks allowed them to determine this figure, another benefit of how the study was conducted.  To compromise and to aid hunters concern for their youth hunters, the game commission allowed youth hunters the same restrictions that had always been in place in regard to harvesting a buck i.e. one point 3 or more inches in length or two or more points to one antler.  In addition, service men and women were allowed the same restrictions of past as well due to their limited opportunity to harvest a buck with being in the armed forces.  A survey by Penn State University indicated that hunter support for the antler restrictions is growing despite a lot of resistance at the introduction of the regulations.  They report that 75 percent of all hunters are backing the restrictions and the other changes that the game commission has made over the past few years (Penn State, 2004). 

    Summary 

        In conclusion, mismanagement over the past century has led to an overpopulation of deer in Pennsylvania.  As a result of the deer overpopulation, the forest ecosystem has been degraded.  In addition, management in the past has encouraged deer hunters to shoot more bucks than does leading to an inadequate adult doe to buck ratio and ultimately an unhealthy deer herd in Pennsylvania.  Antler restrictions that required hunters to harvest only bucks with either three or four points on one antler along with increasing doe licenses and  implementing concurrent buck and doe seasons were put in place to combat the past mismanagement of the deer herd.  The most extensive research of wildlife was launched to monitor the restrictions and new regulations. Over 2,000 deer were captured from two counties and radio tagged to allow researchers to monitor their survival along with various other aspects. Research has indicated that antler restrictions are doing exactly what they were supposed to do and that was to allow yearling bucks to survive in order to grow larger racks and gain a healthy breeding ecology.  The harvest of does has increased by 65 percent while the harvest of yearling bucks has dropped from 85 percent to 57 percent.  Many skeptics of the game commissions new regulations seem to be coming around and are currently in favor of the restrictions that were put in place.  Research about deer movement and survival will continue being documented until the end of the 2004 hunting season on the remaining radio tagged deer.  However, the game commission will continue to monitor bucks into the 2005 hunting season and beyond.  The game commission expects to gain more insight of buck survival and the health of the deer herd throughout the remaining months of this year and beyond.