Know that feeling on "the deer herd took a beating"; been countin' em down for 7 years now. Moved to my present location 7 years ago this month. In the past I could cast a spot light over my fields morning/night and count an easy 8 to 10 sets of eyes looking back at me. Today, I use two field cams and get excited if I get pictures of a whitetail, sometime, during the week.
I remember seeing few, (very few) archers in the area and any gun fire (a shot here; a shot there) would be heard in distance field or woods. Each year, more and more deer stands appear (ladder, climbers and, wooden structures) along with archers and gun hunters. Was once uncommon to see two and three hunters, in multiple vehicles or riding bicycles/scooters, heading to the same area. Gun fire from those areas is much more concentrated today, many times in multiple shots and, shorter times between shooting.
No doubt in my mind the idea of 'moving the predator to the prey' is working just as, the Game Commission had planed. Once the herd reduction/elimination is successful in a given area, the predators will be seeking and eliminate the prey in new areas. That's how it works.................. and it's working.
So beware ye who brags of seeing plenty of deer in your stomping grounds, for the predators listen.
"If you build it; he WILL come" ~Field Of Dreams (1989)~
PS. No offense intended; referring to hunters as being a predator, that's just the way it is!
Times a wasting............ Good luck to all and to all; have a ball............. I shoulda been a poet!