On a browse impact survey,you survey what's growing.If deer are impacting it,it's obvious and noted.You also look at indicator species such as beech.If it's growing and the deer are browsing it,that get's measured.If the deer are hammering the indicator species,your habitat is crap.plain and simple.No need to add more deer to that landscape because you'll never get any preferred regeneration.Maybe you don't care if the habitat turns into a beech and striped maple forest but anyone with any common sense should
Wrong again. The PGC doesn't do browse impact studies. They base the antlerless allocations on surveys of regeneration conducted by the USFS.
DCNR bases their browse inventory on the presence or absence of woody growth, not just on the degree of browsing of preferred species. It doesn't matter if a plot doesn't regenerate due to invasive species, or high basal diameter stand they still record it as a lack of adequate regeneration and that is intentionally misleading.