It's obvious that there are now some real cold spots as well as some areas that still hold too many deer.

Personally, I had a few 30+ deer days this year but we hunted hard and put on drives to see that many (some private land but also some public land) I also agree that there are areas like some in the ANF where the numbers are down.

I will say that I truly believe that any hunter who works hard at it and is willing to be adaptable (IE get off the roads, find a new patch of woods, scout out new areas, stay out there etc) will still see acceptable deer numbers.

One of the reasons the "I dont see any deer anymore" crowd doesnt get much credibility is that the loudest of their lot has been screaming this for 20+ years maybe more. every increase in doe tags, bonus tags or hunting days has generated this type of outcry as long as I can remember (and I'm gettin old) Maybe some have cried wolf so long that no one wants to listen anymore.

Yes there are less deer in the big woods but there are generally sufficient numbers for the dedicated hunter. I've been hunting for 33 seasons now and the buck opener was a huge event up north. Camps stayed full all week. The small towns were busy all week. My camp is on a fairly well traveled hard road just out of Tionesta and the parade of trucks returning home starts around 9 AM on the first Monday. Lets face it, this cant be simply a lack of deer. These guys couldn't have been in the woods more than an hour! Gone with the big crowds is the idea of picking a spot, and sitting there all day waiting for deer to move by. There just arent many hunters out there moving deer like there was in the old days.

Less deer? yep, in spots but that aint all of it. There are also less hunters putting in less effort and going less distance from their trucks.