Some parts of the state may be overpopulated. Others are seeing a drastic decrease in the amt. of deer, and there is no reason for it. I hunt on private land in the NW. If there are too many deer, then how many are the right number? 20 years ago my dad used to see over 70 deer before coming home for lunch. He could see 50 every night from the house. The woods were in the same condition as they are now, and if we see 10 deer running around during the opener, we are lucky. All of my neighbors say the same thing. The amt of people in the woods are not affecting how many deer we see, there are enough pushing the deer around.

This whole thing is politics. The insurance companies want less deer because they are spending too much money on deer damage. Why? The cars we drive now cost more to fix. We are driving faster, and the material of the new cars breaks easier. And the main thing, we spend more time driving at night, when the deer are out, therefor we hit more. The insurance companies could be left out of the equation if they didn' t pay for deer damage. You hit the deer, you fix your car. There aren' t too many deer, there are too many people. And like all things, it is the plants/animals that are affected because of our overpopulation.

I also believe the lumber companies havn' t helped out at all. They are there to make money, and they over cut the forest. My land is the best in the area, and it hasn' t been timbered for over 90 years. That means something.

How many deer are in the Allegany state park? (I am asking, not being sarcastic.) the last time i was there, there was a lot of undergrowth. It looked like a very healthy forest to me.