Where is it that y’all believe the data is failing to show fairly accurate trends??....or is it just a generalized "I dont believe" but have nothing further to add
One... as Lockjaw is saying, there's no guaranteed accuracy on the numbers. The actual doe harvest for years is assured to be higher than reported. Two... even though you might have raw numbers, there's absolutely no way to determine WHY the numbers are trending in a certain direction. The following are all reasons (besides the more liberal harvest allowance) why doe harvest numbers could theoretically go up this year:
* More overall hunters - especially if more are youth hunters or out-of-state hunters
* Cost of beef - I plan to kill two more deer this season because of rising beef prices
* Lack of acorns in areas - in my area far more people kill does off plots; more deer on any one plot could simply be because acorns aren't available
* Change of habitat on hunting land - I had 200 acres clearcut two years ago on my lease; doe numbers have gone up
* Lack of "shooters" on a property - I'm going to shoot a doe for meat before I shoot a 4 YO that's a 120.
* Folks start having deer processed instead of doing it themselves (more reported); also, deer processors accepting deer due to things like SNAP
Causation and correlation are not the same thing.
