Dinner on the Driveway

Deer eating corn scattered in a driveway near Williamsburg, Pennsylvania.

An overabundance of deer in Pennsylvania and in many other sections of the midAtlantic has resulted in forest undergrowth being overbrowsed, with a resulting decline in some nesting bird populations and a dramatic increase in the number of vehicle-deer impacts -- one reason that Audubon Pennsylvania has concluded that "deer densities in Pennsylvania are too high from an ecosystem perspective."

In order to curb rising deer populations, most midAtlantic states now require hunters to shoot at least one doe before they shoot a second buck, and seasons have been extended and takes increased (or entirely removed in some areas).