1 week Ago By Doyle Dietz
Nativity BVM senior Noah Dolbin of New Ringgold has had a successful career in the classroom and the athletic arena. Dolbin, a 6 foot 4 inch receiver, is the all-time leading career reception leader for the Green Wave with 140 receptions for 2,790 yards and 22 touchdowns, averaged 12 points a game as a starting forward on the basketball team that qualified for the PIAA Class A state tournament and as a junior was a member of the school’s PIAA gold medal 1600 relay team. In addition, he also earned a PIAA fourth-place medal in the long jump.
For all Dolbin’s athletic success, however, he had come up short in the deer woods, failing to tag a buck or a doe. If he learned one lesson from sports, however, it was to make the most of an opportunity when it presents itself, and he finally got his opportunity to take a buck at 2 p.m.
the opening Sunday of the season. On Opening Saturday, Dolbin had a small herd of doe pass with range, but he had made his mind up to hold out for a buck. That put extra pressure on him, as he was unable to hunt Wednesday because he had to sign his commitment papers to play football at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Sunday morning again was unproductive, but then Dolbin got his chance at a 7-point buck. He made the most of that chance, and then got an unexpected bonus in the form of a large doe. “I had a lot of motivation this year because next year I don’t know what my schedule will be,” Dolbin said.
“When I saw that buck coming in I just tried to keep my cool, but it was tough. What surprised me the most was that after going all this time trying to get a deer, about five minutes after shooting the buck this big doe came walking up to me. I guess it was worth the wait.
” Dolbin’s great hunt was part of a good statewide showing that saw an 11 percent increase by Pennsylvania hunters for deer taken during the 2024-25 seasons than they did the previous year according to Pennsylvania Game Commission. In the 2024-25 seasons hunters took an estimated 171,600 bucks and 258,410 antlerless deer, with firearms hunters taking 86,260 bucks and 168,450 antlerless deer. By comparison, the statewide 2023-24 harvest was estimated at 430,010 deer, with the 2024-25 buck take up 2% over the year before, and 9% over the most recent three-year average.
The 2024-25 antlerless harvest increased 17% over the year before and 21% over the three-year average. That was partly by design, said PGC Deer and Elk Section Supervisor David Stainbrook, as the agency’s objective was to reduce deer numbers in Wildlife Management Units impacted by Chronic Wasting Disease, where deer impacts on forest health are occurring and where populations are increasing, contrary to objectives. Beyond that, he said, many variables can impact harvest totals from one year to the next.
That’s why wildlife managers, out of necessity, take the long view and evaluate numbers WMU by WMU. “Harvest estimates can fluctuate from year to year from a number of factors, so we caution reading too much into annual variation in harvest,” Stainbrook said. “The trends in data are what give a truer picture of what’s going on.
We manage deer over longer periods of time, for example looking at six-year population trends.” Each and every year, however, hunters play a critical role in managing Pennsylvania’s deer populations, said PGC Executive Director Steve Smith. By buying their hunting licenses, obtaining available antlerless deer tags and filling them, hunters help guide local deer populations toward target levels, and as deer populations rise, the task becomes all the more important, Smith said.
“Pennsylvania’s hunting heritage is strong, and deer season reliably brings immeasurable enjoyment to hundreds of thousands of hunters who spend fall and winter days afield with family and friends, celebrating tradition,” Smith said. “Those hunters also are key to managing an important resource so many of us care about. We rely on their commitment to conservation and they deserve our thanks.
” Stainbrook said PGC harvest estimates are calculated using antlered and antlerless harvest reports submitted by hunters in combination with data from deer checked by crews at processors across the state. Last season, hunters reported 147,000 deer – by far most often using the online reporting form – and PGC personnel checked more than 27,000 deer at processors around the state. Across the state, about 28% of hunters took an antlered deer — the highest success rate since at least the late 1980s.
And, as has become the norm since the implementation of antler point restrictions, most of those bucks were older ones. Two of every three were at least 2.5 years old.
That’s a huge change from decades ago, when most of the harvest was made up of 1.5-year-old deer. Meanwhile, hunters turned about 26% of antlerless tags into a harvested deer.
That’s consistent with past seasons, so, too, is the fact that about 69% of those deer were adult females.Looking at the harvests by season, hunters once again took more deer overall in the regular statewide firearms deer season than in any other. It accounted for an estimated 283,760 deer, counting 86,530 antlered and 197,230 antlerless.
Archers, meanwhile, took an estimated 87,540 antlered deer and 90,600 antlerless, while muzzleloaders got an estimated 1,210 antlered deer and 13,770 antlerless. A map showing a breakdown of the harvest can be found on the Game Commission’s website, www.pa.
gov/pgc. Estimated Harvest Here is the estimated harvest by WMU for 2024-25, with 2023-24 estimated in parentheses for comparison: WMU 1A: 8,900 antlered (8,000), 16,600 antlerless (13,800); WMU 1B: 9,200 antlered (10,300), and 14,100 antlerless (13,600). WMU 2A: 8,800 antlered (10,000), and 13,800 antlerless (13,300); WMU 2B: 8,000 antlered (7,000), and 14,300 antlerless (16,000); WMU 2C: 10,400 antlered (10,600), and 21,700 antlerless (20,600); WMU 2D: 13,400 antlered (11,800), and 28,800 antlerless (21,400); WMU 2E: 6,800 antlered (6,900), and 14,900 antlerless (12,800); WMU 2F: 11,100 antlered (9,100), and 17,700 antlerless (13,900); WMU 2G: 9,300 antlered (8,100), and 8,200 antlerless (6,500).
WMU 3A: 6,300 antlered (5,200), and 6,600 antlerless (6,000); WMU 3B: 7,100 antlered (7,700), and 8,500 antlerless (7,600); WMU 3C: 10,500 antlered (8,900), and 12,300 antlerless (10,600); WMU 3D: 5,600 antlered (6,200), and 7,700 antlerless (7,300). WMU 4A: 4,000 antlered (5,700), and 9,700 antlerless (9.300); WMU 4B: 6,200 antlered (5,000), and 12,600 antlerless (9,500); WMU 4C: 8,000 antlered (8,200), and 12,000 antlerless (6,700); WMU 4D: 8,600 antlered (8,400), and 15,800 antlerless (13,500); WMU 4E: 7,400 antlered (8,100), and 15,900 antlerless (13,700).
WMU 5A: 3,900 antlered (4,100), and 8,300 antlerless (7,800); WMU 5B: 11,200 antlered (9,700), and 17,200 antlerless (14,300); WMU 5C: 7,700 antlered (9,100), and 17,000 antlerless (13,100); WMU 5D: 2,300 antlered (2,900), and 7,700 antlerless (6,700). Unknown WMU: 580 antlered (600), and 200 antlerless (410). Season-specific 2024-25 deer harvest estimates with 2023-24 harvest estimates in parentheses are as follows: WMU 1A: archery, 5,240 antlered (4,400) and 4,900 antlerless (3,800); and muzzleloader, 60 antlered (100) and 900 antlerless (1,000); WMU 1B: archery, 4,930 antlered (5,040) and 3,150 antlerless (2,610); and muzzleloader, 70 antlered (160) and 750 antlerless (790).
WMU 2A: archery, 4,160 antlered (4,530) and 3,140 antlerless (2,600); and muzzleloader, 40 antlered (70) and 860 antlerless (1,200); WMU 2B: archery, 6,230 antlered (5,320) and 7,850 antlerless (8,750); and muzzleloader, 70 antlered (80) and 350 antlerless (650); WMU 2C: archery, 4,940 antlered (5,100) and 5,820 antlerless (5,040); and muzzleloader, 60 antlered (100) and 980 antlerless (1,660); WMU 2D: archery, 7,080 antlered (5,610) and 6,700 antlerless (4,130); and muzzleloader, 120 antlered (190) and 1,700 antlerless (1,770); WMU 2E: archery, 2,940 antlered (3.040) and 3,250 antlerless (2,530); and muzzleloader, 60 antlered (60) and 750 antlerless (1,070); WMU 2F: archery, 4,320 antlered (3,400) and 3,260 antlerless (2,090); and muzzleloader, 80 antlered (100) and 940 antlerless (1,310); WMU 2G: archery, 3,210 antlered (2,670) and 1,690 antlerless (1,170); and muzzleloader, 90 antlered (130) and 710 antlerless (630). WMU 3A: archery, 2,380 antlered (1,830) and 1,510 antlerless (970); and muzzleloader, 20 antlered (70) and 390 antlerless (530); WMU 3B: archery, 3,060 antlered (3,090) and 1.
950 antlerless (1,530); and muzzleloader, 40 antlered (110) and 450 antlerless (770); WMU 3C: archery, 3,970 antlered (3,220) and 2,570 antlerless (2,020); and muzzleloader, 30 antlered (80) and 730 antlerless (780); WMU 3D: archery, 2,570 antlered (2,630) and 2,260 antlerless (2,020); and muzzleloader, 30 antlered (70) and 340 antlerless (480). WMU 4A: archery, 1,460 antlered (1,820) and 1,950 antlerless (1,750); and muzzleloader, 40 antlered (80) and 250 antlerless (750); WMU 4B: archery, 2,860 antlered (2,470) and 3,950 antlerless (2,530); and muzzleloader, 40 antlered (30) and 450 antlerless (570); WMU 4C: archery, 3,960 antlered (4,220) and 3,770 antlerless (1,770); and muzzleloader, 40 antlered (80) and 530 antlerless (430); WMU 4D: archery, 3,540 antlered (3,400) and 4,000 antlerless (3,380); and muzzleloader, 60 antlered (100) and 600 antlerless (1,020); WMU 4E: archery, 3,670 antlered (3,930) and 4,610 antlerless (3,310); and muzzleloader, 30 antlered (70) and 790 antlerless (990). WMU 5A: archery, 1,970 antlered (1,970) and 2,260 antlerless (2,480); and muzzleloader, 30 antlered (30) and 240 antlerless (520); WMU 5B: archery, 7,400 antlered (6,490) and 7,730 antlerless (6,100); and muzzleloader, 100 antlered (110) and 570 antlerless (800); WMU 5C: archery, 5,510 antlered (6,470) and 8,330 antlerless (6,200); and muzzleloader, 90 antlered (130) and 370 antlerless (600); WMU 5D: archery, 1,990 antlered (2,480) and 5,500 antlerless (4,560); and muzzleloader, 10 antlered (20) and 100 antlerless (140).
Unknown WMU: archery, 150 antlered (240) and 50 antlerless (140); and muzzleloader, 0 antlered (0) and 20 antlerless (20). (Dietz is a member of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association. Contact the writer: outdoors@republicanherald.
com).
