I have only read a little of what Dr. Deer says. He seems to have some good ideas and knows deer herd problems, but I wonder if the problem he is going to encounter is too far gone already. I like the idea of separating the state into zones and addressing them as an individual problem. Seems some of the forum members are really thinking this out. And that's what needs to be done.
I talked to eight hunters this year who hunted hard. Not just afternoons and mornings for a few days. Between them they saw two deer, both bucks. Both bucks, were eight or better and taken out of the herd. What bothered them was no seeing doe. Their trail camera showed the deer were already in nocturnal mode coming in and walking trails only at night. What caused that so early?
I went out in the new snow the other day and found two sets of deer tracks on all the trails and roads I have cut, through my property. In the past years before the big kill off, those trails would have been packed with deer sign. As a deer hunter, I am not just out there to kill deer. I like to be in the woods. But I do want to see deer. Which was not the case this year AGAIN.