Baltz,
I'm not one to sit back and talk about what needs to be done and then expect other people to do it. I see cougars as the biggest problem for mule deer herds that I/we can do something about. I spent 6 days hunting only cougars this winter and several times I was close (on tracks but lost them on a big south slope with no snow), if we would have had better snow I feel I could have closed the deal. A buddy of mine killed two this year and was on the tracks of two more with some other guys. I haven't been the one to pull the trigger on a cougar yet but it will be my turn eventually. In addition to my days actively hunting cougars, I have my cougar tag and a gun every time I go shed hunting (50ish days a year)and one of these days I will put one down. Without dogs, you either have to get lucky or put out a lot of effort(and even then there is no guarantee). Realistically, not everyone can be out in the hills as much as I am but if everyone had a cougar tag and was able to shoot a cougar if they happened to see one, we could help the deer population out alot.
I am hopeful and optimistic that things can get better but it will require people choosing to do what they can. Things like hunting cougars/coyotes/bears, turning in poachers (even if they are relatives or friends), writing letters and attending meetings, improving habitat on their private property, advocating for juniper cuts and development of waterholes, petitioning for ODFW to take more aggressive action to control the cougar population (since we are basically double ODFW's target cougar population, weird "coincidence" that the deer population is a about half of their population objective) I do everything I can and just hope everyone else is doing the same.
The fact is that the mule deer decline is a huge problem in every state and no one really knows what to do about it. (if you want to see some real whining go to the Utah forum and read some of the rants about mule deer) I still believe it can be fixed but I guess time will tell. In the meantime we just choose to make the best of the way things are now.