For many of us more "avid" deer hunters, the bigger issue may become the inability to be "hunter-managers" managing localized deer herds we hunt in the biologically sound manners we've been taught, such as having deer harvest goals closer to a balanced sex harvest instead of "buck only".
Having little ability to "manage" our lands for more better balanced buck:doe ratios and an older buck age structure becomes near impossible with the TWRA's "Unit CWD" deer hunting regulations. These regs more or less take us back to the 1990's days of an 11-buck limit, and most hunters not wanting to shoot a doe.
Doe will remain legal in Unit CWD, but most hunters have lost their desire to kill a doe, because most people don't want to eat venison any more, due to the the fear-mongering about CWD.
And it only gets worse.
Due to the new CWD regulations combined with fewer people be even willing to eat venison,
MOST DEER PROCESSING FACILITIES IN "UNIT CWD" counties of TN have CLOSED DOWN!
Not having a "convenient" way for processing deer, this alone will decrease both deer hunting and deer killing.
I was just notified that Yoder Brothers in Henry County, TN is closing down its deer processing facility. They will NOT be processing deer this fall. Yoder Brothers has long-term been one of the largest deer processors in the State of TN.
As to what deer will be killed, it will be mainly bucks, for their antlers, not the meat.
Unfortunately, there will be relatively few bucks 3 1/2 or older in CWD areas (at least after a year or two of the CWD regs). This will cause those longterm "old" accomplished & avid deer hunters to do one of three things:
1) They will go to other counties & states to deer hunt;
2) They will more or less just quit deer hunting;
3) They will die.
I put the "They will die" there because this was already a huge issue, even before CWD regs. Most of the deer hunting, particularly the financial carrying of large deer leases, is being done by "older" avid deer hunters, most of whom are north of Age 65. We were already dying out faster than younger hunters were replacing us. Now many of us are simply leaving the sport sooner, and will no longer be willing to pay high lease prices for greatly devalued deer hunting acreage, which will in turn make many these lands less or unavailable to younger deer hunters.
Note how large deer leases are struggling to find new members to replace those either dying or leaving the sport. The nail in the coffin is when your county is declared a CWD county by TWRA.
Just to be clear, I am not personally so worried about CWD as I am how CWD has been fear-mongered to the general public, and how statewide regulations have been changed to address CWD. This is a case where the treatment may be worse than the disease.
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