Big Bucks

The Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) likes to take credit for the harvest of trophy bucks in the state, telling us its deer management program is responsible for increasing the number of big bucks. However, the PGC's program is only indirectly responsible for large bucks harvested in Pennsylvania -- and certainly not in the way the PGC would have us believe.

The February issue of the PGC's magazine, "Pennsylvania Game News," points out what has occurred. The articles in the magazine discuss the harvest of large white-tailed bucks and the management for such animals. These bucks are mainly...