Doug,you misunderstood my post which is my fault because I didn't explain very well.
First off I'm not saying there's alot of food in 2G.I'm saying the hunters who are reporting less deer are correct and not just whiners like some stated.
Here's where I confused you.I was using two different places in my last post.One area is where I do most of my deer hunting now.That's in 2E on private land open to hunting which is a mixture of farms,woodlots,old strippings,and the beginning of the big woods.This is where I said the food supply is good.This also is an area that has seen drastic cuts in the deer population via hunting.In the beginning it was rated at 38DPSM .
Then there's the places in 2G where I hunt bear,turkey,and grouse.This is what I was talking about when I said the regen I'm seeing is mostly beech,cherry,and maple.In most of these places the deer numbers are low.I was hunting Parker dam the first year of the bonus tags.We saw over twenty deer that day and I'll tell ya what,those guys in there cleaned house.I can see where you thought I was contradicting myself by saying there was plenty of food yet not good regen in oaks.Two different areas-my mistake.
I think where you and RSB disagree with me is how places like 2G arrived at the low deer numbers.I feel herd reduction was the main culprit where it seems you guys think poor habitat and harsh winters are the main reason.It's too ironic that the numbers dropped after a few years of herd reduction.Man those first two years it sounded like a war!Basically it seems where hunters have the access the deer have been hammered.Our local paper just had an article about this.
In places like treasure lake and others that don't have the hunting pressure aren't the deer numbers still high?I know greenwood road still has good numbers but then again it's all posted.
I won't say the lack of mast crops,bad winters and coyotes aren't a factor.But I've seen worse winters then this and never witnessed a drop in the populations like we're having now.
Then there's the state forests in the southern counties like Perry.The tusc st forest has some very low deer populations yet the winters aren't near as bad as 2G.Herd reduction took those numbers that low.I was grouse hunting in there two years ago in the second season.Very little deer sign yet acorns left over everywhere.The mast was there but there weren't enough deer to eat it.