Tomorrow is the start of Pennsylvania's two week statewide deer hunting season. As this article in the Harrisburg Patriot News shows there is still a great deal of mistrust among hunters of the increased doe limits and the concurrent doe and buck season. (See the PA Game Commission site, where I linked to this picture.)
Many of the hunters are saying that deer are becoming scarcer and harder to find. The article points out that with more bucks surviving each year, they are becoming more wily and better able to evade hunters. In any case, it's still true that in much of Pennsylvania it is impossible to regenerate a hardwood forest without a big investment in deer fencing. See my previous post. It doesn't make sense to allow one use of the forest (deer hunting) to monopolize all the other uses and even deter efforts to regenerate forests for future use.
I truly hope this year's hunt goes off in safety with no hunter accidents.
