It's not the damned deer IMO, it's the fact that the forests are maturing. When was the last time a forest burned by you? And I've been in those penned off areas...thick with seedlings yes, but that's what happens when you cut down all but a few of the largest trees. The new sprouts are from the trunks of previously existing trees.

I really have to question how much "damage" the deer can really do. Foresters have a term for the maturing of a forest. I forget what the term is exactly, but it seems that's more to blame for thinner forests than deer foraging.