You have data to back that up? What areas? The whole state? Just in your area?

That is a very broad statement and entirely inaccurate. Deer populations continue to grow in large areas of the state. Northwest AL is where the black belt was 30-40 years ago with population explosions. Deer numbers are seemingly at all time highs in several counties. Deer harvest is absolutely ridiculous. Large numbers of deer are being killed and it’s not slowing down. Numbers are going up, habitat is staying about the same, and if it’s not corrected we will see the natural response to that. I work with properties all over the state. Population numbers are not a concern with any of them. There’s plenty of deer.

Now I say ALL of that and don’t want it to be taken out of context. I work with properties that I do not recommend high doe harvest. That doesn’t mean they have dwindling deer numbers. It just simply doesn’t make sense to kill a lot of does given their objectives. Coyotes being on the scene has also changed deer management. That’s always a consideration now, when it wasn’t just several years ago.

One thing I do not think is helping, and can say publicly now, is the February extension in the entire state combined with cameras and bait. It’s a disaster and I called it from day one. Deer harvest used to be a random event. Meaning we scouted as hunters, played the game, and killed whatever buck we saw because that’s what we had to kill. That left harvest to totally random chance. Now, hunters use cameras and bait to “select” their harvest which is leading to a multitude of issues. The buck segment is being high graded to death and from what I’ve seen, older age class bucks are decreasing in the population. Every one with a camera is hunting “their” deer until he’s dead. Ironically, most of the time, these deer are 3 year olds. If they survive the December/January rut north of Highway 82, they become dependent on late season bait to recover, and they’re getting smoked those last ten days cause people can’t help themselves. That’s not helping herd health. It’s exacerbating an existing issue. Shed bucks are also being killed at higher rates than I think the state realized would occur.

CNC I just have to disagree with your statement based off what I see from the properties I work on.

Where it becomes an issue is large areas of the state with smaller parcels of land ownership and extremely liberal seasons/limits. That would primarily be south AL and the TN valley. The TN valley certainly needed the limited doe harvest opportunities and they got it. You can’t have an unlimited antlerless bag limit an entire season length with most properties being 40-100 acres in open habitat. That’s a recipe for disaster.