Bradford, Pa.:  The second Saturday of firearms deer season on the Kinzua Quality Deer Cooperative (KQDC) was a good day for Mike Foerstner from Erie, Pa.  Mike harvested and then brought an antlerless deer to the KQDC Deer Check Station on SR 59 just at dark.  He and his hunting partners fully understand the importance of harvesting does to keep the overall deer herd healthy, and they showed up with a truck full of deer at the Deer Check Station.  Mike’s doe dressed out at 90#, and was found to be 6 and ½ years old, one of the oldest deer brought to the KQDC Deer Check Stations this season. 

Each hunter that harvests an antlerless deer receives a raffle ticket for a $500 prize drawn after the Deer Check Stations close on the second Saturday.  Mike’s raffle ticket was drawn on Sunday, 12/8, as the winner of the $500 antlered deer raffle prize.  Congratulations, Mike.

Mike expressed his appreciation for the service the Deer Check Stations’ volunteers provide to hunters, and to the land managers that provide a quality place to hunt deer.  He also indicated he would like to volunteer in the summer of 2025 to help the KQDC Team continue to provide quality hunting.

The KQDC is managed for Quality Deer and a Quality Forest Ecosystem to provide a Quality Hunting experience.  Other goals are to provide quality forests for landowners to manage for timber products, local employment, numerous outdoor recreation activities, and quality habitat for all wildlife.

The Kinzua Quality Deer Cooperative is an on-going demonstration, begun in 2000, of how hunting can be used to meet the goals of multiple publics for managing deer.  A partnership of forest landowners, forest managers, biologists, hunters, and local businesses developed the program which relies on hunters to manage deer density on a representative forested area.  The program is conducted on a 74,000-acre forested demonstration area in northwestern Pennsylvania.