The Price of Opposition
My Analysis of the Deer Reduction:
First, there was an overabundance of deer in the last ten year period, in many states. States had to do something. Too many deer cause too many accidents and non-hunting voters outnumber hunters.
Many states had difficulty overcoming opposition to the reducing of the deer herds, in many areas, even before the reduction even happened. The states had a window to do something then and not later. They knew the hunter population would fall, with the baby boomers starting to reach 65 years of age, in the year 2011. The continuing of as many deer and a coming reduction of willing hunters, didn't make the acceptance by the states of large deer herds possible.
Some hunters were the ones who appreciated large herds of deer, since it made the hunting easier. Many of them wanted large herds made permanent.
Making hunting easier was never going to happen. Everyone was going to see less deer in the woods, the farms and on the highways.
The old days are gone. The opposition to reducing large deer herds will mean the state will reduce herds before they increase them. Hunters will pay for some of the stringent opposition to reducing deer numbers for deer hunting.
For some hunters it will be so for the rest of their hunting careers. They can either learn to hunt harder for less deer, or retire. No state will ever willingly return to. or vote for, the days of very huge deer herds.