Lockjaw, that’s a pressure problem. That can only be regulated by hunters, not the state of AL. We kill almost all our does on food plots and still see/kill bucks on them too. Saw a 4 year old buck yesterday on one in 70 degree heat during the December lull. How you approach a stand, how often, how you exit, and what you do while you’re there has way more to do with how deer respond than shooting a couple a year off each plot.

I’ve been trying to get people to understand this for years and few are listening. Long term sustainable populations of deer like a lot of ppl experienced in the 80s and 90s is not reality. That was reality then when deer were expanding and does were protected. Also, coyotes were relatively new on the scene. Once deer expanded to every available acre in AL, habitats changed, and native browse was stunted from increasing populations, the herds of today can not go back where they once were. I see browse lines on every single property I visit. No exceptions. That means deer are consuming most of the available browse. I’ve worked with a couple of properties on hunting strategies to limit pressure and they’ve seen a very noticeable increase in hunter satisfaction and success. The population hasn’t changed one bit. How they move in daylight has just from some simple changes.