AND.... people in the hills all the time, trails and roads going up every canyon and along every ridge in the state, poor winter forage (most likely caused by drought and pollution), etc.
I think the list of factors is very long. Sure, I agree elk have negatively effected our deer herd, but they're just one small peice of the puzzle.
Although I wouldn't want to see it, even if we went back to an elk herd of 10k instead of 65k-75k, I don't think it would significantly help the deer herd.
In my opinion, there are a few things that can be done to help grow our deer herd a little, but I think we are very close to maxed out. The bottomline is, deer aren't just competing with elk, but people too, and there are a lot of people in this state. Very outdoor active people too! Lots of ATV's in this state, lots of camp trailers, etc. People going into the woods constantly effects the wildlife, and deer are very sensitive to disruption.
I think sportsmen may need to just except the fact that we will never have enough deer for us all to go out, buy a tag over the counter, drive up the mountain, and shoot a big buck every year. It won't happen. It never has and it never will.
And even if it did, within a few years the big bucks we're shooting would no longer be big enough to satisfy everyone.
Time and effort does need to be put forth to look into how to increase deer numbers, but IMO, more time and effort needs to be put forth to make what we have now last, and make it as good as we can. Sportsmen may need to give up some of our huge advantage over the game in order to give the game a better chance of survival.
Maybe road and trail closures, season date changes, season length changes, etc. are the answer...???? Heck, I would be all for a unit for scopeless rifles, sub-200 feet per second bows, old style muzzleloaders, etc.
If we want opportunity and quality going forward, sportsmen are going to have to give a little. I think that is the only way.
Brian Latturner
MonsterMuleys.com