It all started with the haunting sound of our deep-throated coyotes in a group howl, moving closer and closer to our farm, striking fear into the bucks in our clover field, and the report by a neighbor of a deer at night keeping her up with hideous bawling. Something is different here in my beloved valley. As a livestock owner, I worry that my goats and calves are going to be targeted as easy prey when the fawns are gone.

For several years now, hunting friends have become more and more disgusted with the Game Commission's management practices. They are paying more, and see fewer deer each year. Some of them have given up the sport altogether. Others just continue to trudge through season after fruitless season. We are told that our deer numbers are still high, but none of us believe it. Sure, there are more bucks that survive, now that we have antler restrictions, but there is even a dirty little secret behind that. In most states, quality deer management is run by sportsmen for sportsmen. Here in PA, however, the Game Commission seems to be sleeping with the enemy.

I was one of the skeptical ones when our renowned wildlife biologist came up with the idea of antler restrictions. I griped a bit, since my time afield has been so severely limited by poor health, that I might have to pass up the one and only deer that passes by my stand. I was relieved to learn that my daughter, as a Junior hunter, was not subject to the rule of counting points. Any buck was legal for her. This helped when she saw her first buck run through an opening in the thick forest. She did not have to actually see that "barely there" brow tine before bleating him to a stop and squeezing the trigger. The thrill of being there with her relieved the sting of another empty season for me. However, the liberal doe season introduced in the "quality management" program ensured a deerless season for many the following year. I do admit the bucks are looking bigger this year...but where are the does? Where are the fawns? My suspicions are deepening. What could possibly be wrong with a quality management plan? Back to the part about sleeping with the enemy...

When the Pennsylvania Game Commission first outlined the new management plan, I read everything I could find on their site. One thing I did find sent chills up and down my spine. Guess who was "helping" with the study of the deer population? None other than the Audubon Society! Now what would a group largely funded by bird-watchers and anti-hunting tree-huggers have to do with quality deer management? More importantly, why would a commission funded by sportsmen be working with an organization known for its radical environmental views and anti-hunting sentiments? To me, that is like al-Qaida "helping" the Department of Homeland Security secure the safety of the USA! They cannot possibly have the future of hunting in mind.

The Audubon Society is not at all like the man whose name they bear. Their namesake was a hunter, make no mistake. He was also a conservationist in the true sense of the word. "Conservation" means "wise use". The very term implies we have a right to use the wonderful bounties of nature, but we do so in a way that makes sure there is enough left over for generations beyond to enjoy. Unfortunately, the Audubon Society believes that there should be great swaths of land totally off limits to all human use. They, along with other far-left eco-terrorist organizations such as "Earth First" and the Humane Society, have designs for our great outdoor heritage that does NOT include hunters. Through a United Nations "Biodiversity Treaty" inspired plan called "The Wildlands Project", human beings are targeted to be gradually...or not so gradually in the West...squeezed out of their own land through land use restrictions and the deliberate removal of roads. Is this mere paranoia on my part? Read this report from a Central Pennsylvania site and judge for yourselves:

http://www.nittanynews.com/wildlands.htm

Suddenly it all makes sense. Fewer deer, hunters losing interest and not passing on the tradition, a sudden abundance of large predators, and whisperings of reintroduction of even larger predators, the wolf and the mountain lion. A neighbor just told me that a large number of cougars was released on the Tuscarora Mountain between Millerstown to our east and Blain to our west. More lunatic claims? Not when you read the grandiose plans of the radical tree-huggers. I learned that "MY" mountain has specifically been targeted for their wilderness area, with plans to re-introduce the wolf and the lion...so that my role in the balance of nature is ultimately extinguished.

http://www.wildpennsylvania.org/press/031003.htm

There is a fundamental difference between my love for Creation and their love for their nature god...Yes, they have set nature apart as a god unto itself. They believe that these large, inaccessible tracts of land in PA are to be "self-willed" As a Christian, I believe I am to be a wise steward of Creation.These people see humans as a curse upon the Earth, which they worship. And my Game Commission is working with the likes of these nuts!

Paranoid? Maybe I am, but that does not mean that the animal rights activists are NOT out to get me and steal my precious hunting heritage!