The debate that seems to follow is, are we hunting to preserve a tradition, or have we gone to far to preserve a large inflow of income to a sport that requires large racks, lots of points and spreads that make hunting magazine readers go absolutely crazy?
We have yet to determine what is the best way to manage our whitetail herd and yes, we have made strides to fighting back against the "numbers" game where more tags sold means more money.
More money did more than just devastate a herd, it killed the sport from those who use it as a management game. Land owners that had over 100 acres once worked their land to manage and cultivate large whitetail bucks for the sport along with increasing the joy of the hunt. Now, with the so called slimming herd, land owners all the way down to those who manage 5 acres are taking care of their "precious."
So what do we have now? We have deer no longer moving because they are being fed, baited and controlled by land owners vs nature controlling the herd along with a government backed entity to ensure the game does not get overran.
I open this for this comments, but my question remains: Is the DNR responsible for the deer herd decline or are we the hunters at fault for the smaller deer herd because we just created a micro managed deer herd?
