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I have lived on the same property for nearly 50 years, and I would guess that there are 10 times as many white tail deer around here as there were when I was a kid. Why? Probably lots of reasons, like a number of easier winters and less die-off from weather. But the #1 reason I believe they are so thick is that the area has gone from a real rural area to almost suburbia. With so many houses and people around, it has become fairly dangerous to shoot. And since the "conservationists" have made it almost impossible to legally shoot does, the deer have lost their fear of being around people. I see does and fawns almost every day, and often see them dead along the roads I travel. My wife and 2 of my kids have hit deer with cars in the last 5 years and I have had several near misses--the only way to avoid hitting them is to go very slow at night and be ready to react if you see any movement. Deer whistles help. When I was a kid, the area was populated with much poorer folks. I KNOW that lots of deer were poached to feed some of those families in those days. I ate fresh venison at friends houses in the summer. And you very seldom ever heard about someone hitting a deer with a car, except in rutting season, when the bucks acted a little crazy. What should be done? I think that the only way things can get managable again is for it to become legal to shoot does around here. I have sure thought about giving them a dose of lead poisoning when I see them in my yard, in the daylight, eating whatever I have planted other than lawn grass, but so far I haven't done it. It would seem a terrible waste to shoot a deer and just let it run away and die somewhere, but if they catch you dressing out a wrong gender deer or out of season, the game people really come down on you. The only way you can successfully garden around here is inside a good 10' tall deer fence. Oh, the progress we have made!!! One of my pet peeves.
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