Matt I beleive that prior to 1986 the PGC only published the kill based on actual report cards recieved. They also checked deer processors against reports to obtain a reporting rate. in 1986 they began publishing a kill based on the actual cards multiplied by the appropriate percentage based on their reporting rate.

This would be an example of how the kill gets calculated since 1986 The actual numbers mean nothing. They're just picked at random to show how it was done.

Report cards recieved 100,000
deer checkedbt WCO's at butcher shops 1000
% of deer checked at butcher shops where report cards came in 50%
Total estimated kill 200,000