bowhunter2117

I’m going to Cumberland this weekend for the big gun bash and thought id check out a hunting spot Sunday on the way home when I came across this quote from Maryland’s dnr


The Big Savage Trail is now open but the going is rough and recommended for only the most experienced hikers with excellent navigation skills. The ice storm of 2002 and Gypsy Moth defoliations in 2006 and 2007 have ravaged the forest canopy over large areas of the trail, allowing sunlight to proliferate an abundance of vegetative growth on the forest floor thus obscuring the trail in many locations. Volunteer efforts are underway to clear these overgrown sections but until the forest canopy reestablishes itself at some point in the future keeping the trail open will continue to be a challenge
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Now Maryland has nowhere near the number of hunters we have here in PA. There deer numbers are way above ours today yet with those higher numbers they have fantastic regeneration, at least good enough that trails have become overgrown and warnings need to be posted.
Here in my area on the Gallitzin state forest dcnr has dmap’d the area for 6 years (since dmap started). we have been in herd reduction for 10 and we are still fencing our cuts. The cut planned for next year will also be fenced. This area used to get hammered in rifle the area surrounding the forest is mostly all open to hunting and here we fence cuts. A pellet count was done on Gallitzin SF and it showed very low deer numbers so why fence and deprive the few remaining deer the vegetation. And to add to that why cut all this land within the last few years why not stager the cuts over a time so the forest is never all in the same stage of growth. Here in pa we blame the deer but this quote clearly shows what good a little sunlight will do.