Lots of questions. I will take a stab at a few of them. Are we heading in the right direction? I think so, but that is a very unpopular position on message boards. I like the idea of letting the button bucks and spikes grow another year. Not sure why some can't tell the difference between a button buck and a mature doe. Herd reduction? It was necessary in some areas. Overbrowsing by deer has been a problem for many years.
I don't think many hunters are quitting. Some guys who weren't really into it gave up because it is harder now. I can't speak for others. I would probably hunt if deer were extinct and I had to use an atlatl or whatever those things are. Not everyone is as crazy as I am.
I don't know how else to correct the problems caused by too many deer, other than to reduce the population for awhile and let the forests recover.

I hope you are wrong about the game commission. What do you think will take its place? DCNR? The politicians in the legislature? God help us if the politicians take over deer management. If the DCNR takes over, us hunters have nobody to blame but ourselves.