A state lawmaker is trying to solve the problem behind one of the oldest, loudest arguments in Pennsylvania’s outdoor world: deer harvest reporting.
By law, hunters who kill a deer are required to report the details of that to the Pennsylvania Game Commission within 10 days. Few do. In fact, the reporting rate for the 2013-14 hunting season was 34 percent for bucks and 30 percent for does, according to commission spokesman Travis Lau. Both represent all-time lows.
Some hunters just refuse to report their deer, said Game Commissioner Dave Putnam of Centre County. But others, he believes, just forget. He said the 10-day window for reporting is too long. Hunters shoot a deer, take it home, then get wrapped up in everyday life and forget to report, he said.
Sen. Richard Alloway, an Adams County Republican, is sponsoring Senate Bill 374. It would change the law to require hunters to report their deer within 24 hours.
The bill, which has It’s been referred to the Senate game and fisheries committee, is “not on a fast track of any kind,” Alloway said.
“I just put this out there to get the dialogue started, honestly,” Alloway said. “I’ve been talking to the commission and I want to hear from sportsmen and sportsmen’s groups and see if this is an answer.”
It may or may not be, completely. In some parts of the state, a hunter who kills a deer but stays at camp for a few more days may not have cell phone coverage, for example, Alloway said.
But he wants to get people talking. Better reporting will lead to more reliable harvest estimates, and that’s what everyone wants, he said.
