What is obvious that don’t know squat about the history of the deer or the habitat that supported those deer in the northern tier back in those better years.
Much of the habitat across the northern was still in the seedling sapling stage into the mid 1940s. The same as the deer numbers and harvests in those northern tier areas didn’t start to decline until the habitat declined.
You can also see how the antler quality started to decline after the habitat declined. By the end of the 1950 both deer numbers and antler quality were headed into a major slump.
It appears both are finally starting to improve after nearly half a century of trying to carry way too many deer. Even the deer are proving that point and proving just how wrong you are.
R.S. Bodenhorn
You couldn't be more wrong if you tried, but I'll do my best to set you straight. The herd in the NC counties peaked around 1929 at 45 DPSM. It then crashed and reached a low of around 15 DPSM around 1947. From there it steadily rebounded to over 45 DPSM in the late 70s when a series of harsh winters reduced the herd to around 30 DPSM. From 1980 to to the present the herd has been controlled by the antlerless harvests which reduced the herd in 2G to 10 PS DPSM, even though the habitat could support 30 OWD PSM!!!!!