In the 1950's Roger Latham said if we didn't kill more deer they would destroy the forests and there would be mass stravation. In the 1970's they said that if the herd ever reached 1 M PS deer the herd would be riddled by disease and there would be mass starvation. in 2003 we now have 1.6 M PS deer and the PGC says the habitat can supoort 1.6 M deer, but they may impact early successional forest stages. Deer have always impacted early successional forest stages because that stage provides the most food.

The most heavily forested area of the state 2 G ,is now 3 DPSM below its OWDD goal. WMU 2F is 10 DPSM below its max.carrying capacity. The most severe over population in the state is not in the big woods counties ,but in the southern teir counties that have much higher carryng capacity than the counties in 2G and 2 F. The over poulation problem is grossly exaggerated because the PGC assigns no habitat value to farmland, reclaimed strip mines , abandoned farms or fringe areas.