Excellent feedback. I agree with most of the replies, especailly the DMP usage, as the purpose of the DMP is to control the deer numbers. Since these are WMU specific, I personally have no issue with it. However, the sentiments of many hunters is different, with their concerns rooted in the number of tags the DEC issues to hunters as a whole.

Another interesting factor in this was admitted by the DEC a couple years ago, and that is their instant lottery system has been issuing more permits than the DEC determined to issue as a whole. According to the DEC, "We didn't know how skilled Hunters are at playing the lottery."

I remember the first year of this new system quite well (beyond the server crashes and then running out of paper, etc.) as the DEC had another round of tag issuances a couple weeks before regular season. I ended up with 3 DMPs that year.

But the maganament stratgeies have changed their focus. I believe this has a lot to do with Commissioner Sheehan, and that is a credit to her - she is one of our allies, for certain. Thanks for the input...

Check stations - DEC already sets these up, but they are not mandatory, unless you happen to be driving up to one with a deer on your car, I believe. The DEC also visits local deer processors, and they scan the tags which can quickly verify if the harvest has been reported. This is where the DEC comes up with their "fudge factor".

However, what I don't get, is that if they use processor visits and scan tags to determine whether the harvest has been reported and to come up with their estimated compliancy rate, why not notify the hunter of his failure to report the animal? Certainly doesn't work for the do it yourself cutters. Perhaps the DEC is concerned about driving away business to that specific processor?

The bottom line is once the deer numbers are stabilized (and they showed some stabilization last year, hencemodest increase in DMP issuance) we must all be vigilent and assist the DEC with their altered deer management philosophies. They cannot do it on their own and expect success. Since we, as hunters, are the primary tool for deer management, we to, IMHO, have a responsibility to do the job in total, which includes proper reporting. LOts of banter going on over this one.