Sylvan, I'm glad we are both from NY and have a great passion for hunting. Hopefully a few of us can get together, maybe even for a weekend this fall and share stories as well as put in a day or two in the woods.

It really is hard to compare the human race to O. virginianus. We breed at any time of the year, no matter what Latitude we live. Deer don't. They do in some areas but not all.

Should a herd be considered healthy is if is growing and not decreasing in numbers? Some of the medical community would say that about humans. Should health only be measured if a species can survive disease? Both arguments by themselves are weak. We need to look at the entire picture when we classify a species as healthy. Should we look at an entire state and get an average of populations or should we look at a more local level to determine what is acceptable? Does population size = health. Absolutely not! If the Mohawk River for example is the divider here in NY as it is for most of the deer in the state should we consider upper NY different from lower? The question them comes down to the definition of a population. If one group has no affect on another it can be considered as NOT part of the population. This is not as simple as saying...as humans. The comparison of deer to humans is almost borderline ignorant. Don't go saying that to the entire world! We all know you are smarter than that. Your other posts have shown that!

Age can be a criteria or factor for the health on a whole but it is not the only factor. Is a mature buck more likely to make it through the winter than a yearling buck or even a fawn? Yes Does health have anything to do with strength and fat deposits throughout the body? Absolutely

You are correct that a herd of 2.5y/o can be unhealthy and you are just as correct that a 1.5 y/o herd can be healthier. We could throw all kinds of occurrances that will mess with either situation. ...more likely than not the 2.5y/o age class is healthier on the whole. They are stronger and generally (although not necessarily true especially in some regions of the Adirondacks) have a higher body fat content. When the winters here in NY are hard they have a higher probability to make it through the winter.

What would be an acceptable % of spontaneous abortions that a doe population could have?
Do you know that, that level is directly proportional to multiple ruts?
Nutrition does play a key role here but so do estrus cycles.

You say that a prolonged rut has nothing to do with the health of the herd?

What generally causes a prolonged rut?
How does a prolonged rut (that means multiple ruts) affect an adult buck? How does it affect yearlings?

How does it affect the remaining mast crop that is still on the ground as well as available last season browse? This all has to do with nutrition.
As can see by answering these questions it does play a key role in the herd health.

Simply put, AR in not QDM by itself. Don't confuse it to that.
All it does is make the average member of the herd older. That has its advantages to the herd.