Dube, don't know where you are or how long you have hunted. But in my area, Bedford and Somerset counties, the peak was before the 90's. Our peak was probably late 60's through early 80's. Im not old enough to be certain when it began but early eighties you could slowly see the decline. It was not a die off it was an increase of doe license. Early eighties Bedford county would be allocated 6-8k doe licenses. By the mid eighties we were getting 14k plus. By 90 they were allowing a bonus tag. There is no way of knowing how that should have affected the herd because having a tag to hunt on and an old tag to reuse allowed a lot of outlawing. That was the real start of our decline here. When Alt started I had some hope, and thought a herd reduction might work as promised. But now it seems they are addicted to tag money and are doubling down on herd reduction. Out local herd seems to produce more nice bucks and that is good. However some would rather be able to get a small buck or a doe every year. A bigger buck is nice but i hunt to get a deer and to get meat. I have never screwed a horn to a board and would never put a photo in the paper. The only pictures of my animals have been taken at the insistence of others. Nothing against others taking photos, I like to see some of them. It just is not how I was raised.
Parents who say they have good kids..Usually don't!
