Originally Posted by
Bigdadyrods
I don't want to twist or hijack this thread on Cougars here in Taxylvania but I will just make a comment about the deer.
nighthawk is spot on about the money. When you buy a gun,bow,fishing rod,etc they are federally taxed by the govt at rates sometimes as high as 11%. I know, I paid them. Ammo is as high as 11% with guns being 10%. Fishing rods get taxed,as does anything related to that industry. I pay my FET for every rod that I build. Now that money gets dispersed thru to the states. How, you ask??? Thru the number of licences that your game dept sells. Thats why they sell bonuses, left over, un purchased,whatever they want to call it. More they sell, the more money they make.
Now the insurance companies are the strongest lobbyests that the state has. They promote more license sales. Don't think they don't. We have more deer killed on the highway than Maine does in hunting. Politicians look out for their better interests and who will donate money to their war chests. Insurance companies have that clout. Besides the Game commission should be called the PA Tree commission, for all they want to grow are trees. Lumber makes money, more money than hunting licenses do.
So when I hear about anything--I mean anything that has helped the state rid the deer from the Penns Woods, I have to think how will it benefit them.
I've hunted the forests of Tioga county for years and have seen the deer disappear from the woods. I've been told that I don't hunt far enough in the woods and thats why I see nothing. Hmmmm, Why is it that the area I've hunted was good for deer in the 90's (good, not great like in the 70's) virtually had the deer disappear when they went to the combining of the seasons with buck and doe????
Show me the area with all these deer!!!
Want to really put a finger on the biggest cause of our deer disappearing??? Hunter greed. Bears, cougars, yotes, and even cars kill deer but we the hunters,buying extra licenses, did it to oursleves. Can't be happy with one deer, gotta buy more to kill more.
Randy