Well,I do agree with you about the elk.They can be way more destructive than deer and they do eat browse.The expansion of the elk herd is one of the thingsI have an issue with.It makes no sense to increase elk into areas with depleted habitat.I'm with you 100% on that one.I have alot of issues withthe way some people in DCNR want to put hunters on the back burner.I have no issues with them wanting to reduce the herd to help the regeneration however.

Germain,the habitat has changed greatly in the past15 years since I've lived here,let alone the past 30 years.Look at the the tornado area for example.It's no where near as good of habitat as it was in the early to mid 90's.Not even close.You really need to look me upthe next time you're up this way.I'm really curious to see some area that can safelyoverwinter alot of deer.Now I can show you areas that are definately on the road to recovery but it's still way too early to turn back.

Not all areas of Moshannon state forest and Quehanna are dmap'd.Actually,there are huge areas that they decided not to dmap because they were seeing positive signs of regeneration once the herd was reduced.You guys need to speak with some of the district foresters.They're the ones who apply for the dmaptags and they chose not to expand the dmap in this area.Howdoes that equate to them wanting to kill all the deer.

Germain,there aren't just pockets of deer around here.Some of the best habitat is on the game lands because the PGC does alot of work there.I hunt SGL 77 AND SGL 93all the time.It's a rare day I don't seeplenty of deer each time.You can also hunt all of Senacca resource property.They have thousands of acres and deer inhabitat all of it.The guys doing most of the complaining are the ones hunting areasMoshannon state forest where the habitat is poor,which is most of it.There's no reason for deer to be there because there's very little coveror food.I'd be more than happy to show you all the places where I hunt.It's a short drive from your camp.It took me about five days out hunting to kill a buck and two doe this year.I killed a doe on the first day of archery season in Parker Dam state part and I killed a buck a couple weeks later on some private land open to anyone.I'll show you that spot as well.I passed up 9 bucks before I killed one.I have 18 different bucks on trail cam pictures in that area and I never saw any of those bucks during archery season.I'll show you those picturesand I'll show you you the exact trees the cameras were set on.You won't find a posted sign on any of these properties.The deer are still out there.What we had to contend with this year was a huge mast crop.A well fed deer is a tough deer to hunt because they don't have to move as much.We also had some bad whether the first two days of rifle season.On top of that,pressure has been way down.Without guys moving the deer,sightings will surely decrease.

I spend as much time in the woods around here as anyone and I fail to see how our public lands are shot out.I don't see 20+ deer a day any more but I don't have to.I see deer almost every time I'm in the woods and that's good enough for me.The week before the first day of spring gobbler season,i saw 15 deer on sgl 93 in less than atwo hour hike and deer sign all over the place.I don't know how familiar you are with those gamelands but they're one of the heaviest hunted spots in this area and they aren't all shot out.

The areas whereI see the least amount of deer are some of the most remote areas with the worst habitat.No way are hunters controlling the deer in those situations.The habitat is the limiting factor and it needs to be fixed.