In this value system, deer are viewed as a type of crop or livestock and the forest as the pasture to be managed for producing them. The goal has generally been to produce as many deer as possible for harvesting or viewing by hunters. The real issue under this system is simply how much food is in the forest for deer to eat. If you examine this management model, you will note that the forest is defined not in terms of its health, complexity, or sustainability as an intact ecosystem. Rather, it is in terms of the health of the deer that browse within the forest.
Nothing is mentioned of plant species' richness, equitability, or distribution.
For example, an acorn crop that is prematurely consumed by what might be defined as an overabundant deer population is not viewed as a loss to the myriad other species that also depend on such mast crops. Instead, the acorns are seen as a high-energy food that leads to increased deer body weights and subsequent antler development. It is this wildlife agriculture paradigm, conceived in the early part of this century, on which most deer management programs are built and out of which hunter expectations have evolved. Such a system focuses on a few parts of the forest, such as deer and their food, while neglecting the welfare of other wildlife and forest health and sustainability. We here in Pennsylvania provide an excellent example of this approach.