ORIGINAL: bluebird2
What really changed in the old traditional camp areas was from a shift in where hunters were hunting a lot more then any change in the deer populations. That shift in hunter densities also affected the number deer sightings in the big woods and remote areas though. That lack of hunters in the old traditional big woods areas also reduced the big woods deer harvests which then lead to the increased habitat damage and eventual crash in deer populations.
That simply is not true. During the 70's there were around 40 OWDPSM in the NC counties. That resulted in a PS density of around 70 DPSM. The PSDD in 2005 in 2G was only 12 DPSM. That is over an 80% reduction in the herd that was the result of harvests that exceeded recruitment for many years. That is why it only takes 29K doe tags and a harvest of 3.8 DPSM to keep the herd stable in 2G. At the same time similar habitat in 2F was supporting 24 PS DPSM and in 2008 it took a harvest of 6.67 deer to keep the herd stable. There is simply no reason why the habitat in 2G can't support as many deer as in 2F, but for some unknown reason the pGC will not allow it to happen.
The fact is that you, nor anyone else, really knows how many deer there REALLY were during any of those time periods you hang your whole premise on. Those were estimated numbers based entirely on working backwards from hunter harvests. As the hunter harvests increased or decreased it greatly changed the ESTIMATED over winter as well preseason deer population estimates and for many of those years and entire decades were wrong, sometimes way wrong.
That is exactly the reason those estimated numbers are no longer the major factor in determining the direction to go with deer harvests and instead REAL measures of the herd health and food supply are used.
Those old estimated numbers were not reliable enough to use the way you want to hang your hat and play all of your cards on. They were simply estimates and very subject to being wrong and not a good management measuring stick.
You are undoubtedly correct though that there were more deer in the 70s. The thing you totally fail to understand or acknowledge though is that in many areas of the state the deer herd has GREATLY reduced its own numbers over the years since then because we continuously carried too many deer during that time period all the way up through the years until the herd crashed from a lack of over winter habitat.
I know it isn’t want you want to believe, but that is the truth of the matter even if it doesn’t fit your agenda and misinformation objectives.
R.S. Bodenhorn