DPFSM is what our Game commission used to use. Deer per FORESTED square mile.

I’m not sure if they still do. Basically if you took a 1x1 mile farm area with 20 deer in it, you could get a DPFSM number of 80 if only a quarter of it was wooded.
Take another 1x1 mile area in our “big woods” and those same 20 deer, give you a DPSFM of 20.


I’ve mentioned on here before my main area is a centered in a perimeter that is enclosed by a 6 mile rectangular loop. That translates to roughly 2 sq mi. Add what I can see on the outside and we’ll call it 3 sq mi. It’s not out of the question to count 120 deer in that loop, and you certainly don’t see them all. I’d easily say there are another half that that go unseen. You are looking at a 60 DPSM density in my area.