Yea - total harvest will be down by a lot because DMP are down by a lot.

But watch the buck take. In my neck of the woods (region 8) it has been dropping at the same percentage as the total take since 2002. That means the buck take (totally unsffected by DMP, of course) has decreased by 40% in 2 years in SE steuben county, which means the herd has decreased by the same.

Every indication suggests it will drop again this year...meatcutters are running about 60% of last years totals. The good news is that this should be the bottom. Assuming we have a decent winter, next year the herd should begin to rebound.

If we have a bad winter .... the screams and howls of DEC ineptitude will really bring down the house.

DEC is doing what they can - it just takes a few years to adjust. You can't turn a battleship on a dime, either.