Forget the concepts of time lag and correlation lag to understand why estimates of regeneration may lag behind increases in deer harvest or why increased deer harvests may not have lowered the estimated herd size by as much as thought
But that does not explain why regeneration decreased in many WMUs years after the herd had been reduced. Furthermore their is no reason to question the decrease in the herd since it is clearly reflected in the buck harvest estimates and the method for calculating those estimates has been the same for over 20 years.