Well I have had a chance to look at the report some.
#1 - the DNR has finally included crop damage and deer/vehicle accidents in the report. These are the social carrying capacity indicators that most folks see. This report is the first time I have seen those numbers included. They report we are down from the previous year.....which is good, but without data from further back than that it's hard to tell just how far it has come. Still not sure what level is considered acceptable.....I'm sure the insurance companies are goin gto try to push to drive those numbers lower and lower as that is where they loose their money!
#2 - Harvest numbers are down (harvest hasn't been below 120,000 since 2003), and license sales are down (-30,000 since 2012). Fewer deer mean, lower harvests and fewer hunters. Think about that.....harvest numbers are down to levels that they where over a DECADE ago! Since the peak harvest in 2012.....statewide harvest has fallen %12+ Most of the top harvest counties have had their harvest drop by 25% or more.
In many counties a hunter can take as many as 8 "bonus" antlerless deer. That is above and beyond the 2 you can take with archery equipment, 1 with a modern firearm and another 1 with a muzzleloader. Even in my county where we average around 800 deer killed a year - I am allowed to take 3 "bonus" deer......meaning I could actually legally take as many as 7 deer if it all worked out. There is no need for this. Even the report showed that a very small portion of hunters actually killed multiple deer a year (72.4% of successful hunters only killed a single deer, 19.5% killed 2 and the remaining 8.1% killed 3 or more).
So now the question to be asked is that now that the DNR is setting up pilot CDAC's in a select few counties will we see any real change in management and this "kill more deer" mentality the DNR has been pushing the last decade? I hope so. I doubt the DNR will allow the deer numbers to reach the levels we have seen in the past, which may not be a bad thing. But I do hope that with data and cooperation we can reach a balance between hunters, non-hunters and the natural habitat to ensure we have healthy wildlife for future generations to enjoy.