[petey]

Amen Tioga!

I hunt by all means, including flintlock in the early and late seasons, unless it's raining and I'll break out the inline for the early season. But I can say that things have gone downhill during archery season since the creating of that early muzzleloader season. Not only do the archers have to compete with muzzleloader hunters, we have to compete with youths and seniors toting rifles...then to top it all off wear 250 square inches of orange. Now I've shot deer as far as 120 yards with my flintlock, but up close and personal is what I prefer and archery season is my favorite time of year. The way they have the laws, with fall turkey and allowing to use rifles in some units requiring 250 sq inches of orange, 100 during small game, 250 during the 1 week in question, I have only about 1 week of archery that I'm not required to look like an orange pumpkin up in my tree. Makes it kind of hard to get up close and personal anymore. Personally I think the PAGC has their head up their butts. The deer are very spooky after the early muzzleoader season. Thank god the prerut starts kicking in and the buck really start to move or it would be pretty hard for the original archer to bag his buck after this season. Your best chances as a bow hunter now, is to do you homework up front and bag that ol boy the first week, or wait until the last week. The rest of the season is screwed up b/c of all the other seasons they dumped on us, including the early muzzleloader. The late muzzleloader season was enough for me, plus you never had to worry about rain. I personally wish they would remove the early muzzleloader and put archery season the way it was. Apparently us bow hunters weren't kiling off enough deer, so lets create a season that'll allow some hunters to use rifles, others to use inlines and kill off the heard. The woods are pretty quiet for a couple weeks after this season and the deer are very spooky (at least in my neck of the woods).

Lets go back to a 3 day doe season, 2 week buck, leave archery the way it was 10 years ago, and muzzleloader the way it was 10 years ago. Quit trying to save me from the world by requiring me to wear orange when I'm bowhunting and needing to get withing 20 yards of a deer. Quit the mass slaughter of deer by allowing these early gun seasons. 3 days for does, unless you hunt a special muzz or bow season. That'll get my vote anyday.