i stated the the 2004 2.5+ buck harvest was 62K. I didn't add it to the table because I would have been accused of altering the data. The total harvest in 2004 was 124 K ,so we only harvested 62K 1.5 buck and carried over 62K 1.5 buck to 2005. If we lose 15% to normal non-hunting mortality there will be 52.7 K PS 2.5 buck. If we harvest 85% of those buck the 2.5 buck harvest will be around 44.8K plus the few 3.5 buck that were carried over from 2004.
I think it will merely be a function of drastically lower deer numbers, but I don't see that in this table yet. Maybe the missing 2004 numbers show that?
The reason the 2004 2.5+ buck harvest remained stable was due to the fact that the effects of increased doe harvests are not reflected in the 2.5+ buck harvest for three years. The fewer surviving doe produce fewer BB the year after the high harvest so there are fewer 1.5 bucks the second year and the third year is when the decline in the 2.5+ buck harvest occurs. The high anterless harvest of 352K occurred in 2002 so the effects will be seen in 2005,when we will be harvesting fewer 2.5+ buck than in 2002.