Deer Management In Pennsylvania

The story of deer management in Pennsylvania is as complex as it is controversial. From the disappearance of deer in Pennsylvania forests at the beginning of the twentieth century to the population explosion that occurred in the latter half of the century, the balance between herd size and a healthy forest has long been a difficult one. In Deer Wars, Bob Frye examines this controversy and the effect that herd management has had on all of the citizens of Pennsylvania; farmers managing deer invasions and property rights, hunters dealing with changing herd densities and ever-complex restrictions, state agencies juggling the rights of hunters with the needs of commercial interests, all with stakes in the success and health of the deer herd. Now with deer harvests decreasing, Chronic Wasting Disease becoming a potential threat, and forests showing serious signs of trouble, the need for compromise from all of the players is essential, but is it possible? This well-researched and engrossing book explores that question.

The story of deer management in Pennsylvania is as complex as it is controversial. From the disappearance of deer in Pennsylvania forests at the beginning of the twentieth century to the population explosion that occurred in the latter half of the century, the balance between herd size and a healthy forest has long been a difficult one. In Deer Wars, Bob Frye examines this controversy and the effect that herd management has had on all of the citizens of Pennsylvania; farmers managing deer invasions and property rights, hunters dealing with changing herd densities and ever-complex restrictions, state agencies juggling the rights of hunters with the needs of commercial interests, all with stakes in the success and health of the deer herd. Now with deer harvests decreasing, Chronic Wasting Disease becoming a potential threat, and forests showing serious signs of trouble, the need for compromise from all of the players is essential, but is it possible? This well-researched and engrossing book explores that question.

This book is designed to help landowners and forestry professionals develop, implement, and monitor programs to manage both deer and forests with emphasis on resolving deer impact issues. Chapters cover management strategies through identifying and setting goals; managing deer populations and deer impact on land; economics of forest, deer, and impact management; human dimensions of deer management; and developing and implementing integrated management plans. The book presents an integrated, quantitative approach for managing deer populations and impacts so users can manage forest resources sustainably.

Every fall close to one million hunters enter Pennsylvania's forests and mountains in quest of the white-tailed deer. Some are seeking sport and companionship; others are stocking their larders for winter; many are conservationists who regard hunting as the most humane way of reducing overpopulated deer herds. They all face the increasing activism of animal rights advocates who are opposed to hunting in principle and who frequently picket and harass hunters. This controversial subject is explored in depth by Mike Sajna, the outdoors columnist for Pittsburgh Magazine and a twenty-year veteran of Pennsylvania's "pumpkin army," the orange-clad throng that invades the woods every season. To explain the ethos and traditions of hunting he takes the reader to a typical deer camp in Warren County, in the rugged terrain of the Allegheny High Plateau. Starting with the trek north from their homes around Pittsburgh, he captures the sights and sounds, thoughts and feelings of three generations of hunters. With humor, affection, and insight he recounts the hunting lore, the camaraderie, the physical testing that make deer camp a unique experience.

The past, present and future of deer management and deer hunting in the Keystone state of Pennsylvania