As deer herd thins, so do Northwest Pa. businesses

Dave Llewellyn, 40, recalled that when he was growing up, he routinely saw herds of 100 or so when his dad took him hunting off McDonald Drive in Vowinckel in Clarion County.

"I feel so bad -- all I can do is tell him stories," Llewellyn said last week, gesturing toward his son, Zackery, 14. They stood near McDonald Drive and Route 66, dressed in camouflage, preparing to hunt bear. During their two days in the region, the Llewellyns hadn't seen one deer.

For the fourth consecutive year, Llewellyn said he won't be hunting in Clarion County today, opening day for the two-week doe and buck season. The restaurant owner from New Wilmington, Lawrence County, said he planned to hunt near home instead.

Fewer deer mean fewer hunters, said Mike McMurray, 58, who has owned Cook Riverside Cabins in Cooksburg in Forest County for 16 years.

"Things don't pick up again until Memorial Day," said McMurray, whose operation includes 19 cabins, a gift shop, cafe and canoe livery. "So it's crucial we get these rentals. We need every bit we can get."

Business owners throughout Northwest Pennsylvania echo McMurray's concerns. They say a 6-year-old state Game Commission policy that lengthened the doe season, increased the number of licenses to hunt does -- from the hundreds to the thousands in some areas -- and combined the doe and buck seasons is ruining local economies.

Those regulations have decreased deer density to 12 to 20 animals per square mile, said Susan Stout, a research forester for the U.S. Forest Service in Irvine, Warren County.

Failing forest health demanded the drastic measures, Stout and Game Commission officials said. Too many deer foraged state forests for decades, they said. Now, white-tailed deer in Northwest Pennsylvania don't have enough food sources. They are "notoriously" smaller than average for their species, Stout said.

Doing nothing could permanently stunt the forest, and its ability to sustain large deer herds might not recover, officials said.

"Three years ago, for the first time in my life, I saw eight species of seedlings more than 6 inches tall in one place," said Stout, who's in her 50s. "If that becomes more common, we could have more deer. Everybody would love to get to that situation. We feel like we owe it to the hunters who helped us let the herd grow."

That means preventing the deer population from mushrooming to the point where hunters again see 100 of the animals in a field as Dave Llewellyn did as a child, Stout said.

But proprietors such as Larry McFadden, 64, who owns Cook Forest Top Hill Cabins about three miles north of McMurray's outfit, protest what they perceive as the Game Commission's heavy-handedness.

"It makes it difficult to justify what they're doing," McFadden said during an interview in his living room. Two of his seven cabins could be seen through the window at the back of the house. "They need to make more of an invitation to people. You're dealing with tourists, not just locals."

McFadden contended that combining the doe and buck seasons has cost him about $4,000 in lost rent. No longer is there more than one wave of hunters.

"When we asked them not to do those things, they told us we have no say in the matter," McFadden said.

Not true, countered Jerry Feaser, the Game Commission's press secretary. Commission officials began an outreach program in 2000, the year before the regulations took effect, to educate the public, he said. They held open meetings, visited newspaper editorial boards, met with state lawmakers and appeared on the Pennsylvania Cable Network.

"We've tried as much as we can to get the information out there," Feaser said. "When we first launched (the new policies), we made no vague references. We made it very clear that we were going to reduce the deer population. This isn't a surprise."

Feaser and his colleagues have heard comments such as those from McMurray and McFadden. But the discoveries made by state wildlife biologists in the late 1990s required action.

They found that deer in southern Pennsylvania were giving birth more often than those in the north. They found that deer overgrazing in the north depleted the animals' habitat. That threatened the survival of fawns and other species of animals, such as turkey and grouse, and destroyed cover against predators.

"Our effort right now is to do what's right for the deer, wildlife and habitat and for all Pennsylvanians," Feaser said. "This is a long-term problem, which we're working to address. It's going to take time."

Stout points out that from 1920 to 2000, Pennsylvanians did not hunt in a balanced habitat. Humans virtually eliminated natural deer predators such as wolves and bears. And not enough harsh winters occurred consecutively to naturally cull the population, Stout said.

"Can we expect higher numbers of deer than now? Yes, absolutely. How high? Nobody knows. We'll have to do that together."

Despite the uncertainty, George Ream, 51, moved last week to Newmansville, Clarion County, with his wife, Joanne, and German shepherd, Thor. Transplants from Ligonier, the Reams plan to open a sporting goods and consignment store on Route 36 early next year.

No deer? No matter, Ream said.

"As long as I can pay the bills and do a little fishing, I'll be happy."

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