I hunt Tioga State Forest and much of the same most of my hunt. No deed, not much sign. Until snow covered the ground and much like you I had to travel far on foot to find what I was looking for and when I found track it was actually more than I saw in years. It seems like they changes or adapted drastically through the years. A lot of comments are correct about the coyotes. I was fortunate enough to harvest a deer in archery season and within an hour after the shot I was pretty much surrounded by coyotes. And I know the game commission says there are no big cats in PA but honestly my hunting partner and I both saw a big cat this year. We have seen track of them in the past and that long swooping tail is unmistakable. Great video pal, keep the spirit and go after them. Never give up.
I hunt Sullivan county near dushore if I heard a dozen shots in the 10 days that’s a lot the problem is too many doe tags being issued people have to STOP buying them cause the game commission will just issue more next year soon the deer won’t be around to hunt
Good video Wyatt. I have hunted Sullivan County every year but four since 1984. Missed three years when I lived in Sicily and last year because of Covid. Live in southern Mississippi now, bout three miles from the Gulf. I never hunted a year in SC when I didn't wack a buck. What part of the county do you hunt in?
Just haven't seen many deer around even spot lighting didn't see many. I hunt Northumberland County. But i live in Lycoming right along the union County line. Didn't here many shots at all. Yes there is alot more bear around I don't think.many people hunt them anymore.
The bear population in south central pa seems low but definitely more then years ago. Our deer population sucks down here on public land due to the idiots of the pa game commission giving out more and more tags claiming CWD it’s a bunch of bs in my part of the state. Franklin county to be exact
Oh yeah that's right I heard from a friend, you guys have been dealing with that thinking on tags and the CWD mix. well hopefully late season is good for you.
Black bear may act differently out there but from all my experience out west black bear wont eat on a carcass normally unless its already dead. Our biggest killer of fawns and elk calves are either grizzly or cats. Cats being a big deal. But also in the past few years look at how the weather has changed and pushed deer to different areas and changed their migration.
Your exactly right, these deer don’t usually move too far bc the weather isn’t as severe however they will if there is a predator increase, habitat decrease, food decrease. For the most part deer will stay where in the general location as to where they were raised. That’s my experience but not exactly proven to be true I guess
Many years ago a Game Warden in Potter County told us at a dinner, that yotes and bear put a major dent in deer populations. He said they found a lot of fawn carcasses near yote dens as well as bear sign with fawn carcasses.
we used to hunt Sullivan many years ago. Ended up just heading up for bear season because saw fewer and fewer deer sign over time. I miss hunting there but too many deer a lot closer to where I live now.
Six days of hunting seen 3 deer in Tioga. I seen a big bear on the first day at 7:30. Hunters we talked to didn’t see any or very little deer. Everyone that hunts in the mountains seems to be frustrated with the deer population right now. Also hunt in juniata same there no deer. 5 days of hunting seen three. Wish we could go back to the days of when you could see 10 to 20 deer in a day. I had guys tell me in tioga they also wonder if the coyote population is hurting the deer.
Dude I feel you on that, it honestly would be really nice to see studies on where the deer have been going or many if the state can implement more crops into the land for higher food to help keep deer alive during winters even
Its sad to say but if you stop to think about it its the hunters creating the real issue not the bears. When i started hunting in the early 80's archers only accounted for a fraction of the deer harvest each year. Im talking like 25-40k. Last year they accounted for 160k deer now add in early muzzle loading, early youth,early senior seasons take 200k deer which is 40% of the years total harvest outta the population and that would account for seeing way less deer in rifle season. Just my 2 cents. Lol
That’s some rough hunting in those mountains.I live in Bradford County.Those bears don’t bother the deer.I have pictures of bear and deer in the same photo.I think the numbers are down in the deer side.I was lucky enough to fill all my tags in bow season.1 buck and 2 doe.But didn’t see as many deer here as I usually do.
interesting, thanks for the input, I know out west animals run away anytime there's grizzlies in sight, bc of their rank in the predator list. Wasn't sure about here in PA with high numbers of bear.
Known fact bears prey on fawns heavily before they become strong enough to escape from them.I live in Dauphin county and we have bears of course but not a large population.
There’s a good amount up in northern PA, around Ulysses area, a lot of bear were killed the first few opening days, and especially since there were more days open this year. Still seeing them on our cams though..But deer population is definitely down, mostly the doe are short in our area, just not worth taking them down because theyll be the moms of our big buck some day😅
smart gal, that's exactly right.. I know some properties where we hunt there are nearly 20 doe to one buck lol. Right there its hard not to take down a doe bc there are so many on the farms, however the state game where we hunted boy I do agree with you.
@@antleredpursuit-tv4634 Yeah I believe that! Just a bad year for the fawn and doe where our land is, especially with the coyote and wolf hybrid breeding, they’re nasty. But Understandable, little tempting when they’re right underneath you..
It seems like the coyote population has really been growing here in Pike county. This year between 6 guys at camp we only saw one 7 point buck that we got. Between 8 days it seems like we should have seen more than 1 deer. I think the coyotes have really been hurting the deer, we saw just as much coyote poop as deer. There are signs though that the deer are around, like rubs and scrapes, but maybe the have become more nocturnal. Even with the snow the opening weekend of deer we hardly saw any tracks. Up in Pike one thing that we noticed was that there was hardly any acorns, so the deer and bear hardly have anything to feed on. Maybe if the state would implant some type of feed like you suggested that would help. We hardly see any grouse, rabbits, and turkeys anymore also. I think the state should really try to get the coyotes down there are so many of them and they don’t help anything really at this point. I think the issues could be helped a lot with coyote population control and adding more food which would help everything. We used to be able to see about 10 deer a day 30 years ago but now it’s really died down.
Aidan you hit it right on the nose! I as well do hope that the state and us hunting are able to implement more actions of getting coyotes and increase food throughout this state
I saw 2 set's of bear tracks in forest county. But I also saw about 15 deer on opening day. I was just in the wrong spot. They where to far away. Second day I saw 2 deer. Hunted the rest of the week and didn't see a deer until Friday. Saw around 3 on Friday. Big 8 but couldn't get a good shot.
Dude I was wondering if u still did this, I got a new phone an lost all my UA-cam stuff!! Hell yeah good ol pa boy! That’s where I’m from is Pennsylvania great hunting around here in butler pa
Yeah I still do it, I just haven’t been able to as much because of college in Wyoming, I missed a lot of hunting days! I did some fishing and went on elk hunting trips, but college too up 90% of my free time! And rock on man, never hunted butler
@@antleredpursuit-tv4634 some big deer here, I don’t hunt anymore due to work but my wife got her 1deer ever this year with my daughter I forget how much meat we got back but it’s super good especially the custom meats like hot stick jerky an bolongia
Bears will eat fawns . If there are a lot of bear in an area deer will move out . You found plenty of buck sign there around . I hunt the big woods of Lycoming coubty. Don’t get discouraged you will find them again.
Yeah one thing I believe happens where we hunt in the distance the deer travel, my brother shot buck with corn in the stomach, which was 3-4 miles from where he shot him.
Hey Wyatt, Been watching your videos for about a year... You asked about the bear population in other areas of the state... Well Perry County is certainly doing well. We lease 405 acres and we definitely have an abundance of Yogi's.
I hate to tell u but those didnt sound like owls. Sasquatch is known to make owl hoots and u having a feeling of being watched is another thing everyone that has an encounter say they felt. Look into it. I've seen a recent encounter video from Sullivan county also . I'm not pulling your leg.
In the Va. County I hunt the bear population has exploded. Conversely the deer populations are down....I dont think bear will bother adult deer but I know the will eat fawns...also there are other factors like coyotes but my experience is a lot like yours.
I'm not sure my experience is quite the same, but I'll say this. I hunt public (SGL40) in Carbon county. There's over 6500 acres and I have noticed more bear sign in the 5 years I've been hunting this gameland. The area that we hunt is completely overrun with laurel to the point when something needs to be done, in my opinion....aka control burn. There are oaks and beechnut but not much else for the deer to really thrive on. We have been seeing less and less deer and THIS year - we saw 2 deer total for 4 days. Not jumping deer, no deer "herds" to speak of andit was just bad enough for me to give up on the SGL and move on to someplace else. It doesn't help PA hunters for the PGC to give out nearly 1million doe tags! Granted - they're not all getting filled but this number is excessive and couple this with the stupid antler restrictions......we're going in the wrong direction as far as QDM. I hold the PGC responsible for dwindling numbers. I used to hunt Hickory Run State Park for a long time but even that place dried up. I'd like to hear from anyone who knows the area I speak, to see if they notice the same thing.
@@antleredpursuit-tv4634 The PGC does have some open meeting during the year, but I honestly think they do it to appease the hunters and give them the illusion that their feedback is valued. Good luck the rest of the season......hopefully you guys can get out and do some flintlock/archery vids for late season. Peace, brother
@@antleredpursuit-tv4634 ok. I'm from across the mason Dixon in Maryland. We are just beginning to hear about cases here. You never know what to believe. But here in Maryland heard seems to be holding steady. First day of rifle I seen 13 deer. 5 which were bucks. But compared to when I was a kid the sightings are really low. I use to hear like 100 shots before 9 am the first morning. This year and last year combined I may have heard 25. Don't know if hunting numbers are lower or fewer deer. Good luck
@@mikekeeferwithaqualandreli4711 great observation, yeah it’s a hard thing to understand I think it’s some of both. Could be way the game commission wants more tags, bc there a less hunters and they want people to be involved
@@Seeker0fTruth I have been a member since 1968 and I would say yes at this time. What public land do you hunt up there and where is the land you bought?
@@davet3703 The property backs up to SGL #66. My family has been coming to Sullivan County since my grandparents honeymooned in Eagles Mere and I’m so thankful to have a little slice of heaven there! As for hunting: For now I keep myself armed with a pair of trusty binoculars. Haha! I’m a big nature & wildlife enthusiast…in full support of those who hunt, although I’m not totally sure I could bring myself to kill another living creature (except, I would hope, if my life depended on it). I do love fishing, but have always tossed my catch back from whence it came. I have extended family who hunt up past Troy, PA (and may be interested in hunting out this way) so I figured I’d ask whether you might recommend membership. Was just up there this past weekend and I can’t wait to get back up there again…especially now that it’s starting to warm up.
I hunt Tioga State Forest and much of the same most of my hunt. No deed, not much sign. Until snow covered the ground and much like you I had to travel far on foot to find what I was looking for and when I found track it was actually more than I saw in years. It seems like they changes or adapted drastically through the years. A lot of comments are correct about the coyotes. I was fortunate enough to harvest a deer in archery season and within an hour after the shot I was pretty much surrounded by coyotes. And I know the game commission says there are no big cats in PA but honestly my hunting partner and I both saw a big cat this year. We have seen track of them in the past and that long swooping tail is unmistakable. Great video pal, keep the spirit and go after them. Never give up.
Thanks for the input terry, I do as well believe mountain lions are in pa
🤣🤣🤣
I hunt Sullivan county near dushore if I heard a dozen shots in the 10 days that’s a lot the problem is too many doe tags being issued people have to STOP buying them cause the game commission will just issue more next year soon the deer won’t be around to hunt
“ Gem of the Endless Mountains “
Right you are
I got my buck in archery and noticed a lot more bear sign then ever this year and also hair in the scat! Another excellent video!
Well shot video,keep up the good work.
Good video Wyatt. I have hunted Sullivan County every year but four since 1984. Missed three years when I lived in Sicily and last year because of Covid. Live in southern Mississippi now, bout three miles from the Gulf. I never hunted a year in SC when I didn't wack a buck. What part of the county do you hunt in?
For deer mostly Sullivan. And Lancaster
Young man you produce thoughtful and interesting videos. Keep them coming.
I greatly appreciate that, doing what I love, and that’s what’s most important to me.
Just haven't seen many deer around even spot lighting didn't see many. I hunt Northumberland County. But i live in Lycoming right along the union County line. Didn't here many shots at all. Yes there is alot more bear around I don't think.many people hunt them anymore.
The bear population in south central pa seems low but definitely more then years ago. Our deer population sucks down here on public land due to the idiots of the pa game commission giving out more and more tags claiming CWD it’s a bunch of bs in my part of the state. Franklin county to be exact
Oh yeah that's right I heard from a friend, you guys have been dealing with that thinking on tags and the CWD mix. well hopefully late season is good for you.
Black bear may act differently out there but from all my experience out west black bear wont eat on a carcass normally unless its already dead. Our biggest killer of fawns and elk calves are either grizzly or cats. Cats being a big deal. But also in the past few years look at how the weather has changed and pushed deer to different areas and changed their migration.
Your exactly right, these deer don’t usually move too far bc the weather isn’t as severe however they will if there is a predator increase, habitat decrease, food decrease. For the most part deer will stay where in the general location as to where they were raised.
That’s my experience but not exactly proven to be true I guess
Many years ago a Game Warden in Potter County told us at a dinner, that yotes and bear put a major dent in deer populations. He said they found a lot of fawn carcasses near yote dens as well as bear sign with fawn carcasses.
we used to hunt Sullivan many years ago. Ended up just heading up for bear season because saw fewer and fewer deer sign over time. I miss hunting there but too many deer a lot closer to where I live now.
I will miss it too, my family has decided to try another place next rifle season
Six days of hunting seen 3 deer in Tioga. I seen a big bear on the first day at 7:30. Hunters we talked to didn’t see any or very little deer. Everyone that hunts in the mountains seems to be frustrated with the deer population right now. Also hunt in juniata same there no deer. 5 days of hunting seen three. Wish we could go back to the days of when you could see 10 to 20 deer in a day. I had guys tell me in tioga they also wonder if the coyote population is hurting the deer.
Dude I feel you on that, it honestly would be really nice to see studies on where the deer have been going or many if the state can implement more crops into the land for higher food to help keep deer alive during winters even
Its sad to say but if you stop to think about it its the hunters creating the real issue not the bears. When i started hunting in the early 80's archers only accounted for a fraction of the deer harvest each year. Im talking like 25-40k. Last year they accounted for 160k deer now add in early muzzle loading, early youth,early senior seasons take 200k deer which is 40% of the years total harvest outta the population and that would account for seeing way less deer in rifle season. Just my 2 cents. Lol
Just wandering where did you get the gopro scope mount
It’s actually a regular GoPro mount I just zip tied to to my scope hahah
Good videos.At least you fellows show what it is really like hunting public here in Pa.
Thanks we’re doing what we can!
Agree... anytime I have ever known a bear to be in an area, there seem to be far less deer. I think the deer are cautious and move on
I believe there’s something too that as well, maybe they learn more and more about being aware that bears eat fawns?
That’s some rough hunting in those mountains.I live in Bradford County.Those bears don’t bother the deer.I have pictures of bear and deer in the same photo.I think the numbers are down in the deer side.I was lucky enough to fill all my tags in bow season.1 buck and 2 doe.But didn’t see as many deer here as I usually do.
interesting, thanks for the input, I know out west animals run away anytime there's grizzlies in sight, bc of their rank in the predator list. Wasn't sure about here in PA with high numbers of bear.
@@antleredpursuit-tv4634 I do know that 80%of a bears diet in the spring is fawns.So we should kill them all.I would rather eat deer than bear.
Good amount in western pa and they are hell on fawns
Known fact bears prey on fawns heavily before they become strong enough to escape from them.I live in Dauphin county and we have bears of course but not a large population.
It seems like fawn being prey for the bears is a very common thing in pa. Never knew that before thanks for comment
There’s a good amount up in northern PA, around Ulysses area, a lot of bear were killed the first few opening days, and especially since there were more days open this year. Still seeing them on our cams though..But deer population is definitely down, mostly the doe are short in our area, just not worth taking them down because theyll be the moms of our big buck some day😅
smart gal, that's exactly right.. I know some properties where we hunt there are nearly 20 doe to one buck lol. Right there its hard not to take down a doe bc there are so many on the farms, however the state game where we hunted boy I do agree with you.
@@antleredpursuit-tv4634 Yeah I believe that! Just a bad year for the fawn and doe where our land is, especially with the coyote and wolf hybrid breeding, they’re nasty. But Understandable, little tempting when they’re right underneath you..
@@elysenauman2288 I can imagine. the dog/wolf family doesn't give any mercy to the deer herds
It seems like the coyote population has really been growing here in Pike county. This year between 6 guys at camp we only saw one 7 point buck that we got. Between 8 days it seems like we should have seen more than 1 deer. I think the coyotes have really been hurting the deer, we saw just as much coyote poop as deer. There are signs though that the deer are around, like rubs and scrapes, but maybe the have become more nocturnal. Even with the snow the opening weekend of deer we hardly saw any tracks. Up in Pike one thing that we noticed was that there was hardly any acorns, so the deer and bear hardly have anything to feed on. Maybe if the state would implant some type of feed like you suggested that would help. We hardly see any grouse, rabbits, and turkeys anymore also. I think the state should really try to get the coyotes down there are so many of them and they don’t help anything really at this point. I think the issues could be helped a lot with coyote population control and adding more food which would help everything. We used to be able to see about 10 deer a day 30 years ago but now it’s really died down.
Aidan you hit it right on the nose! I as well do hope that the state and us hunting are able to implement more actions of getting coyotes and increase food throughout this state
I saw 2 set's of bear tracks in forest county. But I also saw about 15 deer on opening day. I was just in the wrong spot. They where to far away. Second day I saw 2 deer. Hunted the rest of the week and didn't see a deer until Friday. Saw around 3 on Friday. Big 8 but couldn't get a good shot.
Nice video. Good work.
Thanks joe we’re doing everything we can:)
Dude I was wondering if u still did this, I got a new phone an lost all my UA-cam stuff!! Hell yeah good ol pa boy! That’s where I’m from is Pennsylvania great hunting around here in butler pa
Yeah I still do it, I just haven’t been able to as much because of college in Wyoming, I missed a lot of hunting days!
I did some fishing and went on elk hunting trips, but college too up 90% of my free time! And rock on man, never hunted butler
@@antleredpursuit-tv4634 some big deer here, I don’t hunt anymore due to work but my wife got her 1deer ever this year with my daughter I forget how much meat we got back but it’s super good especially the custom meats like hot stick jerky an bolongia
@@ribbledean4111 u aren’t kidding we got 100 lbs from bros buck two years ago
@@antleredpursuit-tv4634 gangster stuff man
Bears will eat fawns . If there are a lot of bear in an area deer will move out . You found plenty of buck sign there around . I hunt the big woods of Lycoming coubty. Don’t get discouraged you will find them again.
Yeah one thing I believe happens where we hunt in the distance the deer travel, my brother shot buck with corn in the stomach, which was 3-4 miles from where he shot him.
Nice video. Please use binoculars instead of your rifle scopes - no one likes to have rifles pointed at them. And binos are better anyway.
I agree, however We’re not point it at anyone.
Black Bears target newborn fawns heavily.
Hey Wyatt, Been watching your videos for about a year... You asked about the bear population in other areas of the state... Well Perry County is certainly doing well. We lease 405 acres and we definitely have an abundance of Yogi's.
I hate to tell u but those didnt sound like owls. Sasquatch is known to make owl hoots and u having a feeling of being watched is another thing everyone that has an encounter say they felt. Look into it. I've seen a recent encounter video from Sullivan county also . I'm not pulling your leg.
Lol, I don’t doubt it!
In the Va. County I hunt the bear population has exploded. Conversely the deer populations are down....I dont think bear will bother adult deer but I know the will eat fawns...also there are other factors like coyotes but my experience is a lot like yours.
We do have a good bit of coyotes around here, I haven’t seen any but good to know thanks for comment
I'm not sure my experience is quite the same, but I'll say this. I hunt public (SGL40) in Carbon county. There's over 6500 acres and I have noticed more bear sign in the 5 years I've been hunting this gameland. The area that we hunt is completely overrun with laurel to the point when something needs to be done, in my opinion....aka control burn. There are oaks and beechnut but not much else for the deer to really thrive on. We have been seeing less and less deer and THIS year - we saw 2 deer total for 4 days. Not jumping deer, no deer "herds" to speak of andit was just bad enough for me to give up on the SGL and move on to someplace else.
It doesn't help PA hunters for the PGC to give out nearly 1million doe tags! Granted - they're not all getting filled but this number is excessive and couple this with the stupid antler restrictions......we're going in the wrong direction as far as QDM. I hold the PGC responsible for dwindling numbers. I used to hunt Hickory Run State Park for a long time but even that place dried up. I'd like to hear from anyone who knows the area I speak, to see if they notice the same thing.
Thanks for your input, I wonder sometimes if the PGc website has something wherehunters can attend… via meetings and state changes
@@antleredpursuit-tv4634 The PGC does have some open meeting during the year, but I honestly think they do it to appease the hunters and give them the illusion that their feedback is valued. Good luck the rest of the season......hopefully you guys can get out and do some flintlock/archery vids for late season. Peace, brother
@@richdeerhunter thanks and yeah we plan on going out. Fingers crossed
CWD?
We don’t have cases or hardly any cases where I was hunting! Most of the times pa game commission tries to make it well known that that is occurring
@@antleredpursuit-tv4634 ok. I'm from across the mason Dixon in Maryland. We are just beginning to hear about cases here. You never know what to believe. But here in Maryland heard seems to be holding steady. First day of rifle I seen 13 deer. 5 which were bucks. But compared to when I was a kid the sightings are really low. I use to hear like 100 shots before 9 am the first morning. This year and last year combined I may have heard 25. Don't know if hunting numbers are lower or fewer deer. Good luck
@@mikekeeferwithaqualandreli4711 great observation, yeah it’s a hard thing to understand I think it’s some of both. Could be way the game commission wants more tags, bc there a less hunters and they want people to be involved
Great kill shots
Do you hunt 13 or 66? I have a seasonal house in Lopez and hunt both of those game lands. White Ash Land Association member.
Just bought land up there… What’s the White Ash Land Association?
@@Seeker0fTruth WALA is a private hunting/fishing club in the Mildred, PA area.
@@davet3703 I had heard there’s a private club up that way but never caught the name. Worth the membership?
@@Seeker0fTruth I have been a member since 1968 and I would say yes at this time. What public land do you hunt up there and where is the land you bought?
@@davet3703 The property backs up to SGL #66. My family has been coming to Sullivan County since my grandparents honeymooned in Eagles Mere and I’m so thankful to have a little slice of heaven there! As for hunting: For now I keep myself armed with a pair of trusty binoculars. Haha! I’m a big nature & wildlife enthusiast…in full support of those who hunt, although I’m not totally sure I could bring myself to kill another living creature (except, I would hope, if my life depended on it). I do love fishing, but have always tossed my catch back from whence it came. I have extended family who hunt up past Troy, PA (and may be interested in hunting out this way) so I figured I’d ask whether you might recommend membership. Was just up there this past weekend and I can’t wait to get back up there again…especially now that it’s starting to warm up.
Very Boring, 12:26 minutes of my life I won't get back
Who asked?