I hunt suburban Pittsburgh, northern Westmoreland County, andaround my camp on the corner of the ANF. Three different areas and based on my hunting experience, I say they all still have too many deer. In Suburban Pgh, the landowners that let me hunt still have shrub/garden damage even after 10 years of a bow hunting program and over 65 deer killed in an area roughly 1/4 mile square. In Northern Westmoreland County where I live, I saw 12 live deer and 2 fresh road kills on my 8 mile drive to work yesterday.

As for my favorite haunts in the ANF.... absolutely YES there are WAY fewer deer than years ago but there is also a very clear browse line, and no seedlings that deer like to eat survive. In much of our big woods, we are already paying the price for the PGC's past mismanangement. It will have to get worse before it gets better. As many of you mentioned, the talk of more doe permits I've heard has emphasized expansion of DMAP and getting the extra antlerless tags to hunters who produce. I believe that most guys here are much more involved in their sport than the average Pa hunter. Those of us that still like to hunt public land sometimes need to find private land alternatives if we want to hunt where there's still lots of deer. I still love to get up to the big woods but it just aint what it used to be and if we ever want it to get better, we have to make some sacrifices NOW. That includes puting in some time up there to continue killing more does so the forest has a chance to start recovering. It didnt get this way overnight and it aint gonna get fixed any quicker.