Conservation One Part of Statewide Trout in the Classroom Program

By John Hayes / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

No one is born with an innate understanding of nature and how to relate to it in a civilized world. It's acquired knowledge.

A student at McKnight Elementary School releases a brook trout fingerling
 at North Park Lake in 2011 as part of the Trout in the Classroom program.
Since 2006, about 63,000 Pennsylvania students have participated statewide.

A growing number of conservationists say that's bad news for a generation of Americans growing up with few outdoors mentors and little connection to nature. Conservationists including best-selling author Richard Louv warn that "nature-deficit disorder" has dangerous implications for a growing body of voters with little boots-on-the-ground knowledge of how nature works and a skewed appreciation of its value.

But in a climate of bureaucratic penny pinching where serious cuts to education budgets are routine, one statewide program brings practical, hands-on cold-water conservation into the classrooms.

With roots embedded at the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, Department of Education and state council of Trout Unlimited, and with tendrils reaching into nearly 200 Pennsylvania schools, Trout in the Classroom is exactly what its name suggests: kids actually raise brook trout from eggs to fingerlings in classroom aquariums and release them into nearby waterways. None of the program's marginal costs are paid through local school taxes, and the educational value stretches beyond conservation to include mathematics, engineering, sciences and English and communications skills.

"Plus, the kids love it," said Josh Cramer, a teacher at South Park Middle School. "It's become this whole sixth grade thing. Every teacher teaches a part of it."

Eight years ago, Cramer and South Park science teacher John Dieterle initiated one of several pilots testing the program for Fish and Boat. Trout in the Classroom was officially launched in 11 classes in 2006.

"Today the project is in 187 classrooms across Pennsylvania, and has reached about 63,000 students statewide," said Spring Younkin, regional outreach and education coordinator for the Fish and Boat Commission.

In Southwest Pennsylvania, Trout in the Classroom is in 36 schools including South Park Middle School, McKnight Elementary School in McCandless, Winchester-Thurston School in Shadyside and The Academy Charter School in Hays. The program is active throughout the United States, Canada and United Kingdom.

Participation is initiated by individual teachers with the support of their schools. Education grants from Fish and Boat, Trout Unlimited, the Department of Education and local nonprofit partners pay for fertilized brook trout eggs cultured at Fish and Boat's Benner Spring Hatchery in Bellefonte. The grants are also used to buy the aquariums, aerators, fish food and other supplies used in the classrooms. Trout Unlimited and Fish and Boat provide the personnel, technical assistance and educational workshops necessary to manage the program.

On a daily basis, students care for the eggs, watch them hatch and help them grow before releasing the fingerlings into the wild. Along the way, they learn about the biology of Pennsylvania's state fish and the importance of cold-water conservation, build ties with the community and, their teachers hope, become lifelong stakeholders in the natural environment.

Each Trout in the Classroom experience is unique because each school puts its own spin on how it supplements existing curricula.

At South Park, a certified engineering middle school, sixth and eighth graders focus primarily on the scientific, technological, engineering and mathematical aspects of raising the fish. Family Tyes, a nonprofit group that provides youth mentoring through fly fishing, is the community partner.

"The big thing for us," said Cramer, "is having kids understand that subjects relate to one another -- putting it all together in the classroom."

McKnight Elementary School takes Trout in the Classroom to the second-grade level.

"In elementary school the kiddos learn the life cycle of frogs and butterflies and chicks," said teacher, fly fisherman and Penn's Woods West Trout Unlimited newsletter editor Christian Shane. "The trout tie in really nicely for the kids."

At The Academy, an alternative charter school for court-adjudicated students in grades 8 through 12, most from urban public schools, the focus is on introducing city kids to nature.

"They really focus on learning about the ecosystem of the local watershed," said school spokesman Dick Roberts, "and even taking the field trip to release the trout in Montour Run is an experience they never would have had in their home schools."

Fish and Boat stresses the linkages between stewardship of aquatic resources and recreational participation, which in turn, the agency believes, leads to more active stewardship.

"People are used to seeing adult trout," said Younkin, "but they don't always understand how delicate they are when they're young and how human impacts on the creeks affect them, and why we have to stock trout in some areas."

In November, about 60,000 brook trout eggs were shipped to participating schools across the state -- each school gets 250 to 300 eggs. Survival in captivity is generally better than in the wild, and classes typically release 50 to 100 fingerlings. If tank mortality is high, Fish and Boat sends a batch of ready-to-release fingerlings. Students tend to bond with their "fishy friends" -- some of the trout are given names -- but Younkin said the fingerlings aren't expected to survive to adulthood in the wild.

"It's not a restoration program," she said. "It's there to educate kids about the life cycle and cold-water conservation. Whether they release one fish or 100, they've still had a successful program."

State Opens First Trout Trail

By Bob Frye, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Pennsylvania has long had hiking trails, bike trails and ATV trails. More recently, it's even had water trails. Now, it's got its first trout trail.

And it's right here in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Representatives of local tourism organizations, Trout Unlimited, the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and others have given birth to the Laurel Highlands Trout Trail, a "pathway" that fly fishermen can follow to enjoy good angling on public lands from Ligonier to Ohiopyle.

Champion fly fisherman George Daniel

The idea for it grew out of an episode on the Outdoor Channel, said Monty Murty of Ligonier, president Trout Unlimited's Forbes Trail chapter and Pennsylvania's representative on its national council. It featured Spruce Pine, N.C.

"It was all about fly fishing in this little town, and as I watched it, I realized it was so much like Ligonier. It had a downtown trout stream, sort of upscale tourist stops, all that," Murty said.

"And I realized it was being featured just primarily because of a promotional thing, a strategy."

He thought his hometown could be marketed in the same way. As he started talking to others, though, the idea grew from focusing on one town to the greater Laurel Highlands "corridor."

The result is the regional trail, which highlights opportunities to fish waters ranging from stocked Loyalhanna Creek to wild trout streams like Camp Run and Quebec Run to the trophy fishery of the middle Youghiogheny River.

Fly fishermen are being targeted in particular -- and are a large reason so many non-fishing-specific businesses are involved in the trail effort -- because of the demographic they represent, Murty said.

According to research done by the Recreational Fishing and Boating Foundation and the Outdoor Foundation, the most common income bracket for all freshwater anglers is $25,000 and $49,999 per year. The typical fly angler, by comparison, earns $100,000 annually.

A study done by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, meanwhile, found that trout anglers tend to be more educated and to spend more on things like transportation, guide services and equipment annually than other freshwater fishermen.

"I kind of repeat the old joke that trout fishing in Pennsylvania is like attending church: many attend but few understand," Murty said. "Once people start to see the demographics of fly fishing, they start to think wow, these are the people we should be marketing to."

The trout trail is not just about fishing, though.

Olga Herbert, executive director of the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor, a tourism group, said it has three goals: to get area residents to understand the importance of protecting the resources in their own back yard; to promote tourism; and to spark economic development. It will best succeed at all of those if trail organizers can reach more than just the fishermen in families, she said.

"We already have a lot of fellas who come here to fish. We're trying to get moms and children to come in, to stay overnight and to see what the area is all about," Herbert said.

That's why places like Fort Ligonier, Compass Inn Museum and the Ligonier Theater are offering promotions and hosting events in connection with the trail, she said.

"We're hoping that this is going to be well received," she said. "This is something new. I'm pretty excited."

"We're going to show the value of cold clean water, that it pays, it doesn't cost," Murty agreed.

Game Commission Urges Support For Wildlife Housing Issues

            HARRISBURG – As development continues to consume wildlife habitats, the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Howard Nursery has devised a way for wildlife enthusiasts to help support wildlife housing needs without having to apply for a second mortgage. The nursery is selling a variety of wildlife nesting structures for several species of birds – from bluebirds to flickers and ducks to owls – as well as housing boxes for bats and squirrels. 

“According to Pennsylvania’s Wildlife Action Plan, development consumes more than 300 acres of Pennsylvania’s landscape per day,” said Carl G. Roe, Pennsylvania Game Commission executive director.  “Although we can’t keep pace with losses caused by urban and suburban sprawl, the Game Commission is working hard to preserve and improve habitat on its more than 1.4 million acres of State Game Lands and other public and private lands.

“For years, our Howard Nursery has been constructing a number of different wildlife nesting structures for placement on State Game Lands and to private landowners enrolled in the agency’s Hunter Access Program. To enable private landowners to lend a hand to wildlife, we also are offering for sale a variety of nesting boxes, beyond the popular bluebird boxes.”

Homeowners – the human kind, that is – can view the entire selection of nesting structures for sale on the Game Commission’s website (www.pgc.state.pa.us) by clicking on “General Store” in drop-down menu bar under the homepage banner, clicking on “Howard Nursery Products” and then choosing “Wildlife Homes Order Form.”  The two-page brochure and order form lists the nesting structures by habitat type, to guide landowners in determining which nesting structure is best suited for their property. 

Available nesting structures - listed by habitat types and approximate sizes (in inches) and prices - are as follows:

Open Land or Woodland Margins – American kestrel box, 24x10x12, $20; gray and fox squirrel box, 22x12x13, $31; bluebird, chickadee or wren box (completed) or kit (unassembled), 14x6x8, $9; northern flicker box, 32x8x12, $40; bat box, 36x25x10, $95; or winter roosting box (can be used by chickadees, wrens, nuthatches, titmice, woodpeckers or bluebirds), 30x10x12, $30.

Hardwood Forests – barred owl box, 33x18x16, $50; or flying squirrel box, 9x9x13, $25.

Farmlands or Open Lands – barn owl box, 17x41x12, $58.

Wetlands and Associated Uplands – wood duck box, 31x12x12, $31; or mallard duck box, 24x13x13, $27.

Prices listed do not include shipping/handling costs, which range from $9 to $26 per unit, plus applicable state sales taxes.  All boxes come assembled and with instructions on where and how to place. 

Once an order is received, a representative from the Game Commission’s Howard Nursery will contact the customer to confirm the order and discuss scheduled shipping dates.  Completed orders can be mailed (P.O. Boxes are not acceptable for delivery), or arrangements can be made for customers to pick up their orders at Howard Nursery. 

Instructors Offer Advice on Tying Trout Patterns That Catch Fish

By John Hayes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

With easy access to the Laurel Highlands, Central Pennsylvania and Steelhead Alley, it's no surprise that the Pittsburgh area has a lot of outstanding fly tiers.

A TV monitor provides a live, close-up, wrap-by-wrap  perspective

on the creation of a Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle variation, as fly tying instructor

Bruce Cox demonstrates at a recent meeting of Penn's Woods

West Trout Unlimited. -John Hayes/Post-Gazette.

The opening of trout season is just three weekends out, and most of the regional fly tying courses that started in January and February are wrapping up. Fly anglers are wrapping like mad.

At weeks-long courses and one-time classes, demonstrations and events, tying aces offered tips for beginners and experienced fly tiers.

Bruce Cox, a veteran instructor for International Angler in Robinson and the Tri-County Trout Club of Lower Burrell, said many tiers are limited by making the same subtle mistakes.

"Pay attention to the details," said Cox, of Springdale, during a tying demo last week at Penn's Woods West Trout Unlimited in Brentwood. "What I see is people not paying attention to proportions. In most cases you're going to tie clockwise. Divide the shank by thirds allotting one-third for the thorax, two-thirds for the abdomen."

Often, he said, experienced tiers become accomplished at a particular technique, but they try to use it in every situation.

"Be flexible. Once you master one technique, don't apply it to every kind of fly," said Cox.

"Everybody's taught to whip finish the head of a fly. But when you're tying parachutes, if you use a whip finish tool you might tie over some of the parachute fibers. Use the half-inch tool, put on a double half hitch and a drop of head cement and it will never come off. If that's good enough for George Harvey [the Western Pennsylvania fly fishing legend who founded Penn State's vaunted fly fishing course], it's good enough for me."

On March 26, at a 7 p.m. meeting of the Upper St. Clair Fly Fishing Club (www.uscflyfishing.org), Cox will demonstrate tying midges and other small patterns.

Bill Nagle of Bridgeville, fly fishing expert for L.L. Bean at Ross Park Mall, says he advises beginners to avoid over-tying.

"My experience is that the novice tier often doesn't tie sparse enough," he said. "They use too much dubbing or too much hackle or too many thread wraps. They tend to tie them too robust."

In the wild, most flies are extremely thin -- anatomically efficient -- and their silhouettes, as seen from below by trout, are very small. Nagle said bulky fly patterns may seem unnatural.

"You don't see insects that are overweight," he said. "You put two or three layers of wrap on the hook and you may already be exceeding the size of the natural."

Efficiency in tying is important, too. Nagle says a good fly shouldn't take more than a few minutes to tie.

"You can spend hours tying a fly that looks beautiful or five minutes on a very similar-looking fly that will catch fish," he said. "When I'm tying for myself, if I can't tie a fly in two or three minutes, it's not worth my time -- I'm going to lose so many, I need a large supply."

PA Fish Commission Partners with Pirates Baseball

HARRISBURG, Pa. – The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) are teaming up this year to offer an exclusive discount to Pirates fans with fishing licenses.

“During the baseball season, 2012 fishing license holders are eligible to purchase discounted tickets and receive a free custom, limited-edition Pirates ball cap with each PNC Park game ticket,” said Ted Walke, chief of the PFBC’s division of outreach. 

“The offer is good for outfield box tickets on any day of baseball, with the exception of opening day and Saturday games.” 

The Pirates will open their season at PNC Park on April 5. This special offer will begin on Sunday, April 8, when the Pirates take on the Philadelphia Phillies in a 1:35 p.m. game.

Each fan who takes advantage of the offer will receive an outfield box ticket and a limited-edition ball cap for only $21, a $3 discount. Each ticket is good for one high-quality, blue camouflage pattern cap made especially for the Fish and Boat Commission.

The promotional offer is good for advance ticket purchases only. Visit the Pirates web site atwww.pirates.com for a seating chart. Fans can complete an order form on the PFBC website and mail it to the Pirates office or fax it to 412.325.4410. Phone orders cannot be accepted.  The online form (with more details) can be found at:http://fishandboat.com/promo/2012events/pirates-mag-form.pdf.

Game commission finds adoptive dens for three orphaned cubs

HARRISBURG – After finding three black bear cubs stranded along a road near Troy, Bradford County earlier this week, Pennsylvania Game Commission officials today successfully completed a four-day race of locating and placing the two female cubs and one male cub in adoptive dens in Northeastern Pennsylvania. 

Three orphan bears await transport to Pike County: Photo Courtesy of William Williams.

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          The clock started ticking on March 13, when Sullivan County Wildlife Conservation Officer (WCO) Rick Finnegan responded to the Armenia Mountain area near Troy, to investigate reports from passing motorists that three bear cubs were at the base of a fence near a township road.  
          “The cubs all weighed less than 6.5 pounds and were unable to walk,” WCO Finnegan said. “The immediate and surrounding area was surveyed for several hours and no adult female bear was observed, and there was no evidence of a vehicle collision. This unusual set of circumstances seemed to indicate someone may have unlawfully handled the cubs and dropped them off at this location.” 
          Bear cubs in Pennsylvania are born in January, and weigh 12 to 14 ounces. Female bears generally give birth to cubs every other year, and the cubs are weaned in late spring or early summer. 
          “Cubs at this age are extremely vulnerable,” said William Williams, Game Commission Northeast Region Information and Education Supervisor. “The immediate concern was to get the bears warm and hydrated. Cubs nurse on milk that contains nearly 30 percent milk fat, which allows them to maintain body function while quickly gaining weight; it essentially is a fluid that has the caloric equivalent of whipped cream.”  
          WCO Finnegan took the two females and one male bear home, put ear tags on them and fed them evaporated milk from a baby bottle. 
          “The three slept a good portion of the evening, as they grunted and hummed and snorted and snored,” WCO Finnegan said. 
          The next step, Williams said, was to find adult females in the area that had cubs and would be receptive to having one of these three cubs placed with them. 

Dave Sittler, Game Commission biologist aide, places one of the bear cubs from Bradford County with three new siblings in Pike County: Photo Courtesy of William Williams

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          “The Game Commission has had success transplanting orphan cubs to other nursing sows where they may be accepted and reared as one of their own,” Williams said. “It is the only real chance the cubs have at survival. However, trying to place three could be a challenge and timing is everything.”  
          Fortunately, Williams noted, now is the time of year that Game Commission biologists are visiting bear dens to study health and population trends of black bears by obtaining biological information from radio-collared sows with cubs. After locating a radio-collared sow, the adult bear is tranquilized and its general health status is evaluated. Any cubs are fitted with ear tags to identify each individual and aid biologists in studying black bear growth and dispersal trends.   
          It just so happened that these annual studies were scheduled to take place in Pike, Lackawanna, and Luzerne counties during the remainder of the week. 
          In the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday, March 14, WCO Finnegan transported the cubs to Columbia County where he met Williams to complete the relay to the Pocono Mountains to begin the placement process. 
          By 9 a.m., a small crowd gathered in a Delaware State Forest parking lot in Porter Township, Pike County. Dr. Walter Cottrell, Game Commission veterinarian, arrived shortly thereafter with Mark Ternent, Game Commission bear biologist. Pike County WCO Mark Kropa had located a radio-collared sow that was known to be denning nearby. The small processing team made its way to the den site and soon the adult bear was tranquilized while her three cubs remained at her side. 

Dr. Walter Cottrell, Game Commission veterinarian, hands off cub to be processed: Photo Courtesy of William Williams

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          After obtaining measurements and collecting biological information, the three cubs were fitted with ear tags and unceremoniously rubbed with dirt (to diminish human scent) before being attached to the sow’s nipples. Joining three offspring was one of the adoptive female cubs from Bradford County.  
          The team then traveled to the den of a second sow, only a few miles away. This bear was tucked into a ground den with her four cubs. The entire process was repeated and a second of the Armenia Mountain bears was provided with a new parent and siblings. 
          Today, March 16, at 10:30 a.m., the lone male cub of the litter was placed on State Game Land 180, Blooming Grove Township, Pike County, with a sow and her two cubs. 
          “It’s great when a plan comes together,” Williams said.  

Game Commission Releases 2011-12 Deer Harvest Estimates

 HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Game Commission today reported that, in the state’s 2011-12 seasons, hunters harvested an estimated 336,200 deer, which is an increase of six percent from the previous seasons’ harvest of 316,240. 

Hunters took 127,540 antlered deer in the 2011-12 seasons, an increase of four percent from the previous license year’s harvest of 122,930.  Also, hunters harvested 208,660 antlerless deer in 2011-12, which is an increase of eight percent from the 193,310 antlerless deer taken in 2010-11.

“This year’s antlered deer harvest is slightly above average harvest since 2005, when the Game Commission began efforts to stabilize deer populations in most of the state,” said Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director.  “Antlered deer harvests increased in 13 of the state’s 22 Wildlife Management Units. Those WMUs in which the antlered deer harvest increased were WMUs 1B, 2A, 2B, 3B, 3C, 3D, 4A, 4B, 4D, 4E, 5A, 5B and 5D.”

            Bureau of Wildlife Management personnel currently are working to develop 2012-13 antlerless deer license allocation recommendations for the April meeting of the Board of Game Commissioners.  Calvin W. DuBrock, Game Commission Bureau of Wildlife Management director, said that in addition to harvest data, the staff will be looking at deer health measures, forest regeneration and deer-human conflicts for each WMU.

Harvest estimates for 2011-12 seasons are based on 114,000 harvest reports submitted by hunters to the Game Commission. Of the reports submitted, 49 percent were done using the long-time report card mail-in system, 47 percent were done through the agency’s online reporting system and only three percent were received through the agency’s new toll-free telephone system.

Reporting rates are determined by cross-referencing these reports with the data collected from the 26,000 deer examined by Game Commission personnel in the field and at processors. 

DuBrock noted that reporting rates varied widely.  For antlered deer, the average reporting rate was 37 percent (from a low of 31 percent to a high of 45 percent). For antlerless deer, the average reporting rate was 33 percent (from a low of 19 percent to a high of 45 percent).

For a full explanation of harvest estimating procedures, including example calculations, see pages 55 to 59 in the 2009-2018 Deer Management Plan. The plan is available on the Game Commission’s website (www.pgc.state.pa.us) by clicking on the “White-Tailed Deer” icon in the center of the homepage and scrolling down to the “Deer Management” listing.  All of the data used to estimate this year’s deer harvests are included in the two tables at the end of this news release.  Previous years’ data sets also are available in deer program annual reports on the Game Commission’s website.

“These data and the explanation and examples found in the deer plan provide the public with the opportunity to see exactly how deer harvests are estimated,” DuBrock said. 

Also on the “White-Tailed Deer” page, in the “Research and Publications” section, is a document titled “Reporting rate variability and precision of white-tailed deer harvest estimates in Pennsylvania,” which appeared in theJournal of Wildlife Management in 2004, a peer-reviewed scientific publication.

Comparisons between the current year’s harvest and historic antlered deer harvest often do not consider hunter participation levels.  In 1986, there were roughly one million deer hunters in Pennsylvania.  This past year, around 700,000 license buyers participated in deer hunting seasons.  When viewed in this context, harvest success rates are comparable to the past.

Also, yearling bucks comprised 50 percent of the 2011-12 antlered harvest, and 2.5-year-old or older bucks comprised 50 percent.  Prior to the start of current antler restrictions in 2002, yearling bucks comprised about 80 percent of the antlered harvest.

“Current antler restrictions have achieved their objective to protect most yearling bucks from harvest and allow them to reach at least 2.5 years of age,” DuBrock said. “In recent years, the composition of the antlered harvest has hovered around a 50:50 split between yearling and 2.5-year-old and older bucks.” 

Hunter success rates for antlerless deer remained at 25 percent of the number of antlerless licenses issued, which is on average with recent years.  Button bucks represented 21 percent of the antlerless harvest, which is similar to the long-term averages and falls within the annual range of 21 to 24 percent for the past 15 years.  As for the remainder of the antlerless harvest, 60 percent was adult does and the remaining 19 percent were doe fawns, which falls within the annual range of 18 to 20 percent for the past 15 years.

Total deer harvest estimates by WMU for 2011-12 (with 2010-11 figures in parentheses) are as follows:

WMU 1A:  5,200 (5,900) antlered, 9,800 (11,900) antlerless;

WMU 1B: 6,000 (5,500) antlered, 9,500 (9,200) antlerless;

WMU 2A: 7,100 (5,800) antlered, 12,700 (13,500) antlerless;

WMU 2B: 4,500 (4,000) antlered, 17,000 (13,000) antlerless;

WMU 2C: 8,200 (8,500) antlered, 12,800 (9,600) antlerless;

WMU 2D: 11,100 (11,500) antlered, 19,300 (18,000) antlerless;

WMU 2E: 4,100 (4,200) antlered 7,100 (6,000) antlerless;

WMU 2F: 5,400 (6,400) antlered, 6,700 (5,700) antlerless;

WMU 2G: 6,300 (6,800) antlered, 5,500 (3,600) antlerless;

WMU 3A: 3,300 (3,800) antlered, 6,700 (6,500) antlerless;

WMU 3B: 5,900 (5,400) antlered, 7,700 (7,600) antlerless;

WMU 3C: 7,100 (6,200) antlered, 9,900 (8,300) antlerless;

WMU 3D: 4,500 (3,900) antlered, 7,200 (5,500) antlerless;

WMU 4A: 4,800 (3,800) antlered, 6,500 (6,400) antlerless;

WMU 4B: 5,300 (4,500) antlered, 5,500 (5,100) antlerless;

WMU 4C: 5,500 (5,700) antlered, 7,400 (8,400) antlerless;

WMU 4D: 7,100 (6,300) antlered, 6,600 (5,500) antlerless;

WMU 4E: 5,100 (4,800) antlered, 6,100 (5,900) antlerless;

WMU 5A: 3,600 (2,400) antlered, 3,600 (3,400) antlerless;

WMU 5B: 7,200 (6,900) antlered, 12,900 (12,500) antlerless;

WMU 5C: 8,900 (9,400) antlered, 24,200 (24,000) antlerless;

WMU 5D: 1,200 (1,100) antlered, 3,800 (3,700) antlerless; and

Unknown WMU: 140 (130) antlered, 160 (10) antlerless.

Season-specific deer harvest estimates – such as archery and muzzleloader and rifle – by WMU for 2011-12 also can be calculated using harvest data from processors and report cards. 

“Although we do not use season-specific harvest data for management purposes, we recognize the public is interested in these harvest estimates,” DuBrock said. “For that reason only, we provide estimated deer harvest breakdowns for firearms, archery and muzzleloader seasons, but we only use total deer harvest estimates when making recommendations for each WMU.”

Season-specific deer harvest estimates are as follows:

WMU 1A: firearms, 3,000 antlered, 6,800 antlerless; archery, 2,140 antlered, 1,790 antlerless; and muzzleloader, 60 antlered, 1,210 antlerless;

WMU 1B: firearms, 4,000 antlered, 7,500 antlerless; archery, 1,950 antlered, 1,260 antlerless; muzzleloader, 50 antlered, 740 antlerless;

WMU 2A: firearms, 5,100 antlered, 9,200 antlerless; archery, 1,950 antlered, 1,810 antlerless; muzzleloader, 50 antlered, 1,690 antlerless;

WMU 2B: firearms, 1,800 antlered, 9,000 antlerless; archery, 2,620 antlered, 7,000 antlerless; muzzleloader, 80 antlered, 1,000 antlerless;

WMU 2C: firearms, 5,700 antlered, 9,200 antlerless; archery, 2,450 antlered, 2,090 antlerless; muzzleloader, 50 antlered, 1,510 antlerless;

WMU 2D: firearms, 7,200 antlered, 14,400 antlerless; archery, 3,800 antlered, 2,330 antlerless; muzzleloader, 100 antlered, 2,570 antlerless;

WMU 2E: firearms, 3,100 antlered, 5,300 antlerless; archery, 970 antlered, 790 antlerless; muzzleloader, 30 antlered, 1,010 antlerless;

WMU 2F: firearms, 4,100 antlered, 5,000 antlerless; archery, 1,220 antlered, 780 antlerless; muzzleloader, 80 antlered, 920 antlerless;

WMU 2G: firearms, 5,200 antlered, 3,500 antlerless; archery, 1,030 antlered, 780 antlerless; muzzleloader, 70 antlered, 1,220 antlerless;

WMU 3A: firearms, 2,500 antlered, 4,900 antlerless; archery, 760 antlered, 860 antlerless; muzzleloader, 40 antlered, 940 antlerless;

WMU 3B: firearms, 4,400 antlered, 5,000 antlerless; archery, 1,440 antlered, 1,360 antlerless; muzzleloader, 60 antlered, 1,340 antlerless;

WMU 3C: firearms, 5,500 antlered, 6,900 antlerless; archery, 1,530 antlered, 1,410 antlerless; muzzleloader, 70 antlered, 1,590 antlerless;

WMU 3D: firearms, 3,200 antlered, 5,000 antlerless; archery, 1,240 antlered, 1,460 antlerless; muzzleloader, 60 antlered, 740 antlerless;

WMU 4A: firearms, 4,100 antlered, 5,300 antlerless; archery, 630 antlered, 480 antlerless; muzzleloader, 70 antlered, 720 antlerless;

WMU 4B: firearms, 4,000 antlered, 3,900 antlerless; archery, 1,250 antlered, 790 antlerless; muzzleloader, 50 antlered, 810 antlerless;

WMU 4C: firearms, 3,800 antlered, 5,300 antlerless; archery, 1,630 antlered, 1,210 antlerless; muzzleloader, 70 antlered, 890 antlerless;

WMU 4D: firearms, 5,600 antlered, 4,500 antlerless; archery, 1,420 antlered, 1,020 antlerless; muzzleloader, 80 antlered, 1,080 antlerless;

WMU 4E: firearms, 3,600 antlered, 4,300 antlerless; archery, 1,440 antlered, 1,030 antlerless; muzzleloader, 60 antlered, 770 antlerless;

WMU 5A: firearms, 2,500 antlered, 2,600 antlerless; archery, 1,070 antlered, 550 antlerless; muzzleloader, 30 antlered, 450 antlerless;

WMU 5B: firearms, 3,800 antlered, 8,100 antlerless; archery, 3,320 antlered, 3,460 antlerless; muzzleloader, 80 antlered, 1,340 antlerless;

WMU 5C: firearms, 3,800 antlered, 13,200 antlerless; archery, 4,950 antlered, 9,350 antlerless; muzzleloader, 150 antlered, 1,650 antlerless; and

WMU 5D: firearms, 300 antlered, 1,200 antlerless; archery, 880 antlered, 2,530 antlerless; muzzleloader, 20 antlered, 70 antlerless.

Unknown WMU: firearms, 0 antlered, 130 antlerless; archery, 110 antlered, 30 antlerless; muzzleloader, 30 antlered, 0 antlerless.