Originally Posted by
Screamin Steel
In an exclosure you mentioned in the past that had a few deer trapped inside...approx 4, which translated to a comparable effect of a DD of 19dpsm, you claimed they had browsed all the preffered species down to nothing. If a reasonable DD of 19 dpsm can completely ravage an understory in a recent timber cut...what hope does the future hold for pole timber forests with a sparse understory? Will we be forced to endure single digit DD indefinitely, in the name of biodiversty and valuable lumber commodities? Many of the DMP supporters now, only support the plan because they were led to believe that HR is a temporary measure that will fade away when the habitat recovers sufficiently, yet examples like your exclosure aren't painting a portrait of a bright future, I'm afraid.
They didn't browse all of the prefered species.They totaly destroyed the oak.The red maple is prefered but it's doing fine
and hardly even touched.The habitat itself is fine in that exclosure to support quite a few deer for several years.That example just illustrated how deer singled out the most prefered species first and also illustarted how it doesn't take a huge deer density for that to happen.