mhowell

Deer, forests, and people are connected. Forests provide food, cover, and clean water that deer need. Forests growing on nutrient-rich soils with many food plants can support many more deer than forests with poor soils and few forest floor plants. That is, they have a higher carrying capacity. Deer add grace and beauty to the forest. What they eat affects how forests grow, how many deer they can support, and habitat for other wildlife. Hunters seek deer for meat and for the love of the hunt as they have for hundreds of years. Peoples’ understanding and choices about deer and forests shape all these connections.