All of those deer that ran around the PA mtns years ago when the hunting was "good" was because it was just coming into a closed canopy forest. There was still thick under growth plus the mast trees were starting to come into there prime
In NC PA the herd has been reduced significantly in just the last 10 years. Elk Co. went from 30 DPFSM in 1995 to 19 DPFSM in 2003 and it wasn't due to a decrease in the quality of the habitat, it was due to high anterless harvests. The fact is the herd in 2 G is being managed at 2 DPSM below the goal of 15 DPSM. The goal of 15 DPSM is 50% below the max. carrying capacity for 2 G ,so there is more than enough food and cover available to support more deer.
At the same time the farmlands were completely open and had no cover for deer but now old farms are grown in and there is a perfect mix of mature forest, thick over grown fields and open ag land. And that is where all of the deer are in the state now.
The areas in PA with the best mix of forest and farmland have the lowest OWDD goals of any WMU's in the state. WMU 5 B has a goal of 5 DPSM while the goal in 5 C is 6 DPSM. How many trophy buck will those areas produce when hunters will only be able to harvest 1 buck PSM.