ORIGINAL: DougE

I took a walk in Moshannon state forest yesterday afternoon.This area used to have a ton of deer but really took a beatingright after 2001 because it has fairly easy access.I hunted it this year for two days during firearms seasonand saw a fair number of deer and very very fewhunters.There had been some logging over the past8 years and the regeneration was starting to look pretty good.The deer herd started to rebound probably because there was less pressure and more food.In any event,I saw 4 live deer yesterday in the two hours I was walking around the crunchy snow.I found one dead deer,probably either killed by coyotes or just lost during huntingseason.In any event,I was checking outan area near a small hemlock stand that was cut about 4 years ago.Almost every blackberry stem and every seedling,other than beech was browsed.Alot of them were browsed down the diameter of my small finger.If the herd continues to grow in this area,there will be almost no preferred regeneration.Right now,it's quickly turning into a beech and striped maple stand.It's unfortunate because three years ago,the oak regeneration was looking pretty good.