An antlerless season was held in 1960 and again 1961. License allocations were predicated on trends in the antlered deer season,crop damage ,winter mortality,highway mortality , range conditions and the reproductive capacity of the herd.
It is gratifying to enlighten sportsman,farmers ,foresters and game managers to see that the commissions policy is bringing back some of the heavily overbrowsed areas..that range conditions are improving and crop damage is decreasing...all indications that the basic premise of the deer program( that is maintaining maximum breeding stock consistent with existing food supply) is paying dividends
In 1960 the reported buck harvest was 38,270 and the antlerless harvest was only 28,887 for an antlered to antlerless harvest ratio of 1.3 to 1.0 Compare that to the 2007 antlered to antlerless ratio of 1 to 1.95. The management objectives were the same in 1960 as in 2007 , but the harvest results are entirely different.