RE: Whats wrong with the gamelands?
Deer harvests do not have to continue to go up as a deer herd continues to decline. An allocation can be lower every year as long as it permits the havest of more deer than are recruited. Recruitment declines with herd size.
So to summarize for the hypothetical village idiot that you spoke of.....
The harvest can continually decline and still be enought to cause a continual decline in the herd size due to the allocation alone, provided that the allocation permits for a harvest higher than the recruitment...which would also be on the decline.
If it takes 15,000 antlerless harvest to overcome the recruitment substantially and decrease a wmus herd this year, it very well may take far fewer to do the exact same thing next year and so on and so on.
That is not to say, of course that a harvest increase cannot occur even with a declining herd size. Raising allocation or other factors can definate contribute to a larger harvest than the previous year, but only serves to excellerate the decline of the herd.