I wish I had a definitive answer. I've made these claims and given them studies performed in several states (which I'm sure they already had) and nothing gets changed.
The high-dollar-auction-tags are actually part of the problem, rather than the solution, because they pander to those with the most "clout" and leave the average Joe out. We DON'T need more "quality" hunts and more LEs.
We need more deer. The only thing of which I can think is a lot of people complaining and even VOTING for legislators to whom we've made this an issue.
There are a great many special-interest groups with inordinate power compared to their actual numbers. In the west, WE (hunters) could be a huge factor in electing state legislative candidates...or the governor.
If we demanded (by our money and our votes) that our respective F&G departments started working for those who pay their wages (hunters & fishermen), we could have a lot of clout.
Before that will happen, we need to tone down some infighting and we need to become "organized" in support of MORE OPPORTUNITY, which can only come through GREATER NUMBERS, instead of supporting high-dollar groups, that often exist to provide fantastic opportunities to their founders or at least to their financial backers, through what is now called "quality" management.
Nobody likes big bucks more than I....but big bucks result from increased populations as surely as night follows day. I'm old enough to know what the sustained (20 year) harvest rates were during the mid 50s through the mid 70s (and later). The major differences in MANY ares, then to now, is fewer cattle and sheep on the range (won't hurt deer numbers), fewer roads (won't hurt deer numbers) SOME, although not a lot in many places, new houses (can impact but be negated by minimal feeding efforts) and a LOT more coyotes, lions and now wolves.
We need to demand of our F&G departments that these things be solved. Hound hunters will "hate" me but they support large populations of cats...because they want to be able to run them. They are quite effective here (Idaho). We need to be equally effective.
We do have the VOTES to do this.
We would be the largest "special-interest" group in the west, if we'd try.
Within the shadows, go quietly.