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The driving principal of modern deer management for more than a decade now has been: Shoot more does. The problem has been: How many more? It’s a thorny question that inevitably causes strife between managers, who want to control herds, and hunters, who want to see more deer. Nowhere has the battle been more openly heated than in Pennsylvania, and the latest change in deer seasons, given preliminary approval by the state Game Commission this week, is already sparking debate.

From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

_Commissioners raised the number of units in which doe hunting won’t start until the first Saturday of the two-week season from four to eight. . . .
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_Commissioner Tom Boop of Northumberland County — who has tried unsuccessfully to curtail doe license allocations, shorten doe seasons and eliminate the October muzzleloader and doe seasons previously — suggested this change, too, and finally had the votes to pull it off. . . . This change may satisfy some of those hunters who have complained they aren’t seeing enough deer in the woods, he said. . . .
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_”We’re going to hear from that silent majority of hunters and non-hunters who approve of our (existing deer) management plan,” [said commissioner Greg Isabella, who voted against the change].
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_”I suspect that they’re going to look at this change and think that our deer program is starting to be dismantled. I’m hearing it already.”
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