This. There are less deer. Because the TWRA has been trying to kill them all off in the CWD Zone.
What you're seeing is the results of the twra regulation change. Not the herd dying off in significant numbers because of disease
I'm not buying current CWD regs have made much of an impact in recent hunting seasons, and I live and deer hunt in Unit CWD, and have for the past 20 years (
Unit L then Unit CWD). As so many have stated before, just because TWRA liberalizes the regs does not mean hunters will take advantage of it. There has been several posts on this with supporting data over last few years (one post below), and one quick summary of data I compiled this morning. The extremely liberalized harvest opportunities have been in place last four years while the annual kill numbers have
DECREASED, when compared to those same counties being in Unit L (2006-2018), with fewer hunter opportunities, and a month shorter deer season. I suspect this
RECENT decrease in overall harvest is more directly related to Unit L assault on does for 15 years, some impacts from CWD, and more importantly hunters abandoning these CWD counties and hunting elsewhere in last few years. Very few hunters have any desire to kill a doe in Unit CWD these days (
compared to just 10 years ago, doe harvest is 1/2 what it once was), so one would think herd numbers would be on the rise, or busting at the seams in pockets, but that is not what I am seeing in some areas that have prime ag/hardwood habitat. I am seeing reasonable herd numbers, but nothing overly impressive when it comes to deer sightings per hunt, trail camera data, etc, like some of my buds see in other States.
Unit CWD - Will Numbers Actually Decline