Ulysses,

I think you confuse BTB and I for being diehard PGC fans. Granted, there are things that we like but I know that I have problems with some of the stuff the PGC does, and I am pretty sure BTB does too.

Now, as far as what all could be done. Well, if the soil on the SGL's isn't good enough, fertilize and lime it. Then plant something for the deer. Afterall, hunters put alot of money into the PGC each year, and it is about time that they start seeing some rewards for it. Afterall, if they could improve the habitat, then a good deer density study and a accurate projection on what the carrying capacity is could be done and we could aim to keep deer levels there (which for alot of areas would mean that we could have more deer in the area than there currently are).

Planting corn on SGL's may sound like a good idea, but truthfully corn isn't all that beneficial to deer. I believe corn has a protein rating of around 12%. Now, plants such as rape, turnips, chickory, clover, alfalfa, ect... all have much high protein ratings also, they have a very fast regenerating period and they produce a huge amount of food each year!

My best-friend's uncle owns a farm here in Indiana County and he has it in a program where he has to keep it open to the general hunting public, and in return the PGC will "help" him out by sending him free food plot seed or stocking his farm with pheasents each year. This may sound like a good deal for him, but, the PGC will send a maximum of 30# of food plot seed yearly (probablly enough for 1/2-1 acre depending on the mix). The problem is that he would have to take time out of his busy schedule (farming along with be a foreman for a construction company), and spend that time tilling the ground, then he would have to purchase the fertilizers and lime with his own cash, till that into the ground, spread the seed and pack the ground. Alot of work for somebody who already doesn't have enough time in the day for his own work! Now, if the PGC would send out a crew to do the work, it might be worth it for him. Heck, this past August he gave my best-friend and I a blank check and told us to go pick up our own seed and we were gonna spend the weekend putting in a good food plot and that is what we did. He maybe saved $30 on seeds but that is it (and these seeds were probablly better than the mix the PGC sends).

If the PGC really wanted to help the land, they would plant food plots on SGL's (to help the deer through the winter when the browse gets low), and they could also fertilize the oaks in the woods in order to get a better acorn crop. Select clear cutting would also help by allowing areas to have some new-growth (which produces alot of food for deer). Also, you have to remember that no matter of food and bedding area is going to matter if there isn't a water source in a close distance. Putting in some small water holes wouldn't be a bad idea either! Adding variety to the food sources for the deer would be very beneficial. Deer have pretty much three sources of food in one year, corn/alflalfa/clover, acorns, and browse! The alfalfa and clover are good in the summer, and the acorns and corn are good for the fall, then the deer have browse left to get them through the winter and into the spring when green-up starts (and still they don't have any solid food source).

If the PGC was really worried, they would look at the fact that deer need to have a food source year round, not just half the year! I am pretty sure that deer would do MUCH less damage to the woods if they weren't forced to survive on browse for close to half a year!