Part 2 of our annual Pennsylvania Deer Outlook focuses specifically on trophy bucks.

The naysayers have their right to complain if they want to. But for a growing number of hunters who appreciate quality deer management, those who took the initiative to learn and understand the dynamics of how a healthy herd interacts with a healthy environment, this year looks downright exciting.

We're all looking forward to something most Pennsylvania deer hunters have never experienced: a true quality deer hunt.

The commonwealth's legendary deer hunting attracted hordes of red-plaid-clad hunters to the Big Woods of the Allegheny Highlands. In the early 1900s, the state had an overabundance of whitetails -- a herd that had grown up in a new forest that could support great numbers of deer.

By the time World War II ended, an army of men familiar with centerfire rifles streamed into the Pennsylvania forests. But the deer had already become too numerous for their habitat.

Things are a lot different now.

Though many hunters are still dreaming of that mythical time when herds of deer ran by everybody's stand at regular intervals, we must now consider some realities. For one thing, habitat is dynamic. When the habitat changes, so does its ability to support deer. What also changes is what the public is willing to accept.

Even non-hunters like to see deer when they take a drive through the countryside. But an environmentally educated society is not willing to accept deer numbers so dense that they decimate the very habitat required to sustain other wildlife, or deer numbers too high to allow a forest time to renew and regenerate itself.

People also understand that deer affect the economy. They affect the price of 2x4s and paneling. They affect the price of car insurance -- and even life insurance!

Perhaps a mandated appraisal of the Game Commission deer-management program will change the situation. Perhaps it will lead to more deer, but perhaps it will also lead to fewer deer: If you examine the trends in whitetail management across the country, the trend is toward fewer deer, but of better quality.

In the meantime, for those who love to hunt, a deer herd in balance with its environment results in bigger bucks. And better deer management means that a much greater percentage of the deer you'll see will be bucks, even though if, grudgingly, you may see fewer deer.

THE OUTLOOK FOR 2008
Dr. Chris Rosenberry is the Pennsylvania Game Commission's lead deer biologist. Just how does he view the coming season?

"We looked at last year's harvest and the way it was distributed, particularly during the firearms season," Rosenberry said, "and it was consistent with previous years. But the opening-day kill wasn't half of what it was the previous year.

"Many of those deer made it through the winter and are still out there. So looking at that, I would say that 2008 should be as good or better than last year."

Quaker State hunters took 109,200 antlered deer last year, a 19 percent drop from the year before. Hunters in wildlife management units 2E and 2F really took it on the chin with a 33 percent drop in the buck kill. WMU 4B dropped 30 percent, WMU 2G dropped 29 percent and WMU3D dropped 28 percent.

Rosenberry explained that last year's opening-day losses could have accounted for nearly all of the reduction in the harvest of antlered deer from 2006-07 to '07-08.

"In looking at the rest of the season, there were no days where this year's harvest exceeded report-card counts from last year. That indicates there was no way to make up for the loss on opening day. If you examined all of the numbers, I suspect that first day would account for a good chunk of the reduction in buck kill."