I respect the time that you have devoted to this and the knowledge you have gained from it! The DEC has committed to better management or more conscious management,but this is a relatively recent.
I am not a biologist and can only speak from the perspective of a persom that spends an awful lot of time in the woods specifically pursuing deer.My units can be vastly different from where you are from or others that are participating in this conversation.I appreciate and respect numbers but are they enough? Is the survey sample adequate?I know what I personally see as a fairly capable woodsman and hunter covering many miles hunting in a number of locations within my surrounding units.
I may not be sizing up your contentions correctly but it seems that you are speaking in terms of economics and not necessarily what is most favorable for the animals themselves.
If you can direct me to sources of literature or things that you believe may be insightful to me please do.If it can be done without considerable effort on your part.
The gist of all of this for me is that the hunting experience in my area isn't what I would like it to be.I am not convinced that we are doing the best we can with our natural resource.The points that you have made are very valid about under reporting and poaching.There are a lot more layers to this issue than most folks care to think about.