6pt-Franklin is a nice area. It's close to me and I have a lot of friends that live and hunt there. I have however always gone "back home" so to speak. I go to the town of Searsmont in Waldo County. There are more deer there and one of the last sizable pieces of public land that I'm aware of. Of course it helps that I grew up hunting that area so I'm very familiar with it.
The deer are so plentiful there that they actually had more any-deer permits than applicants for that wildlife management district this past season. That was the first time that I am aware of that happening in this state. I think there was another district that experienced the same thing too. That resulted in some applicants getting 2 any-deer permits. I understand that's the norm in PA but it's something we dream about up here.
Whether the cause is increased numbers of deer or decreased numbers of hunters I can't say. Either way I'm sure the state biologists will make adjustments accordingly.