4evrhtn

As far as the association of threat idea I addressed that in the above post. As far as "any national park where deer (or other game) are not being hunted going right up to people" you are equating two separate scenarios as being the same. They are not. I have never seen deer just walk up to people unless they have learned that those people are a source of food. This then creates an unnatural scenario where deer are not behaving like deer. Deer are cautious and elusive by nature unless they have had experiences that would dictate otherwise. The idea that deer will not be alarmed by human scent if they haven't experienced "being shot at" is false. Deer are a prey animal and they act as such and do this from birth and not just when they learn a human is a danger, anything foreign to them will be one of 2 things -1 something of curiousity or 2 a danger, even something that they are curious about is still approached with caution in the event that it may be a danger. I will bet anyone $10 to every $1 of theirs that anyone who pays no attention to scent precaution will never consistently harvest mature deer unless they buy them. They may get lucky once and awhile but thats all it will ever be. And those who contribute their success to luck do so because they know very little about the whitetail deer. I find the work involved in the off season and learning everything about the whitetail deer I can is 3/4 of the enjoyment behind why I do what I do.
Good Luck This Season!