Maybe the very mild winters contributed to deer coming through in very good health condition.??????Other than a few pockets in the NC, most of the state has been spared a hard winter for a few years.
__________________
While there is no doubt severe winters can have a significant impact on recruitment, IMHO they don't have much effect on breeding rates ,since breeding takes place before severe winter weather and the doe will carry those embryos until spring under most conditions.
My question is now, if the habitat is so god awful terribble in most areas, and still rated as poor and below target forest regeneration, how in the hell are we getting such high breeding rates? Unhealthy forests cannot be producing such healthy deer.
The PGC admits that forest health is not a true measure of the quality of the habitat or the carrying capacity. But , at the same time they claim that heavy browsing by deer indicates that there is a lack of adequate food for the size of the herd in a given area with high browsing impact.