What is the context here?
If the chart is correct, why did deer disappear almost entirely around 1900, what led to the almost complete rebound by 1950, and why the recent downtick?
If the chart is correct, why did deer disappear almost entirely around 1900, what led to the almost complete rebound by 1950, and why the recent downtick?
Conservation movements (mostly by sportsmen AKA hunters) led to regulations (each state now has a wildlife or game department to set hunting seasons) and a shift away from harvesting anything to mostly just harvesting bucks during short seasons.
Recent downward trend is due to several things:
1. Loss of habitat due to humans. Mule deer are known to migrate hundreds of miles, and there are a lot of highways to cross. Winter habitat is being paved over for human progress. (Cool video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIAyb-1uwTg)
2. Chronic wasting disease is an issue in wild mule deer populations with no cure (similar to mad cow disease)
3. Harsh winters can take a toll and really slow any chance of mule deer population growth. Certain places in Wyoming this year had 100% fawn mortality (every deer less than a year old died due to the harsh winter, see: https://www.wyomingnews.com/rocketminer/news/state/what-s-in...).
4. The internet has enabled a lot of out-of-state hunting, by making it easier to find places to hunt (Google Earth, OnX, etc.), learn how to hunt better, and understand the regulations, so there are more hunters on the landscape with better technology. States manage for this and limit the number of hunters and shorten seasons.
5. Predator re-introduction/recovery as well as many states that have banned certain types of predator hunting. This can be a touchy subject among hunters. A lot of people are okay with deer and elk being hunted but not wolves, cougars or bears.
I've been deer hunting for 30 years. My experience is with mule deer and black-tailed deer on the west coast and Rockies. Not much whitetail experience, but I do know that whitetail deer in the east and south don't have as many predators and do well in agricultural landscapes. They can have two or three fawns each year so their population can grow quickly. Mule deer inhabit harsher landscapes (mountainous terrain mostly).
Their populations are now managed pretty carefully, but, just as importantly, their natural predators weren't really husbanded back into their ranges, so, in many places, their only real predator now is car bumpers.
source: My hunting license class 5 years ago
But really, only white-tail deer populations have recovered since then, with the “other” group crashing again to all-time lows.
Odd
I am no expert, but I assumed it to be in response to their population. I only ever harvest one as that is plenty of venison for me, but the population could certainly sustain more.
Start issuing more permits and you get less deer.