SGL No. 223's total area of 7,224 acres is broken into seven separate tracts, each of which is irregularly shaped. (Cont'd)

"The deer habitat there is excellent," Zaffuto said. "It features broken, diverse forests, early successional cover, mast trees, thickets and some thick greenbrier.

"We have food plots and herbaceous openings on the game lands, intermixed with orchards, clearcuts and reverting vegetation."

Perhaps the best deer hunting in western Pennsylvania -- rivaling any in the country, by some standards -- is in wildlife management units 2A and 2B. There are plenty of deer in this area, which includes the most productive trophy buck habitat in Pennsylvania.

However, it's not a good destination for traveling hunters. WMA 2B lies in Allegheny County near Pittsburgh. If you live here, you might be able to find places to hunt. But they will be hunted hard.

WMA 2A is a bit more hospitable.

According to biologist Zaffuto, "WMA 2A has game lands in it and unposted land."

Surprisingly -- almost shockingly -- hunting pressure is not heavy, at least not for an area close enough for Pittsburgh hunters to go for an after-work hunt.

"No," said Zaffuto, "you just can't get people to go where they don't normally hunt. We're getting more people shifted down there. Basically what I'm seeing happen is Pittsburgh always went your way (north). Well, as you get individual places, sport shows, phone calls and TV broadcasts, you try to encourage them to go down to 2A now, 2A, 2C -- down that way because there's more deer.

"It's always been our experience that the game lands have not been utilized to their fullest extent in other open areas. And whenever we get people to go there, they like it and they don't go north anymore.

"I've had people call last year who said, 'I just wanted to let you know that we went over to Washington County's Game Lands No. 245 instead of going up north every year, and that's where we're heading now.' "

SGL No. 245 lies in the southwestern corner of Washington County. Four separate tracts make up this game lands, totaling 3,654 acres, which may include some of the best deer habitat in the Commonwealth.

The terrain is moderately hilly. Like just about everywhere in Washington County, it is reverting farmland. Some secondary-growth oak stands produce mast every other year.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission maintains apple orchards for productivity. Warm-season grasses add to the richness of the deer habitat.

SGL No. 245 is easily accessible from Pittsburgh through Washington. Take I-79 south to Washington, exit onto I-70 west toward Claysville and then take Route 231 south.

SOUTHWEST REGION
The Southwest Region provides some of the finest mountain deer hunting in Pennsylvania, including the highest land in the Commonwealth and some of the most rugged habitat along the Appalachian Mountain ridges. However, this is not the type of hunting for those who want to do things the easy way.

"The harvest numbers on the game lands in our mountainous areas in Somerset, Westmoreland, Indiana and Cambria counties are steady," Zaffuto said, "but at lower levels than they have been over past years."

By design, deer densities along the ridges have been lowered. Deer numbers had been so high that hungry whitetails devastated their habitat.