Montana Mule Deer Mismanagement

[Forkyfinder]

The longer I have seen proactive management, the less I like it.

Do you have any thoughts on this specific statment from the link?

"The most striking example of this boom-
bust effect came in the early 1970s. Mule
deer numbers inRegion 7 were skyrocketing
because FWP had restricted antlerless har-
vest, even during years of abundant browse.
In 1973, hunters harvested a record 19,335
mule deer bucks. During the nextfew years,
FWP finally increased antlerless harvest, but
by then the population was already dropping
naturally, as mule deer found little left on
the landscape to browse. Coming too late,
the increased antlerless harvest accelerated
the population decline. By 1976, the buck
harvest had plummeted to just 3,498, a
decrease of 82 percent. “That’s a prime
example of reactive harvest management,”
says Waltee. “In hindsight, we now see that
the increased antlerless deer harvest came
two years too late to prevent severe habitat
stress and an extreme population decline.”

 

[antlerradar]

Do you have any thoughts on this specific statment from the link?

"The most striking example of this boom-
bust effect came in the early 1970s. Mule
deer numbers inRegion 7 were skyrocketing
because FWP had restricted antlerless har-
vest, even during years of abundant browse.
In 1973, hunters harvested a record 19,335
mule deer bucks. During the nextfew years,
FWP finally increased antlerless harvest, but
by then the population was already dropping
naturally, as mule deer found little left on
the landscape to browse. Coming too late,
the increased antlerless harvest accelerated
the population decline. By 1976, the buck
harvest had plummeted to just 3,498, a
decrease of 82 percent. “That’s a prime
example of reactive harvest management,”
says Waltee. “In hindsight, we now see that
the increased antlerless deer harvest came
two years too late to prevent severe habitat
stress and an extreme population decline.”

I can understand why people would not like the big swings in population, But I would take that any day everyday over what the graph is showing since the time proactive management was implemented. You would have to have very rose tinted glasses not to see the the over all trend during proactive management has been a declining harvest. I am also fairly confident that the downward trajectory has not been broken in the last 10 years not shown on the graph. We wouldn't have a 148 pages of mule deer mismanagement if it was.