The changes have not been instantaneous, rather, have taken several decades to become evident. This adds to the difficulty in making short-term predictions about wildlife populations. Department biologists believe that long-term declines in habitat condition, starting in the 1930s and continuing today, are most responsible for the decline. Lack of habitat disturbance, especially from fire, has decreased habitat value for deer and other wildlife in much of the state's forested areas. Indirect consequences, such as increasing competition with livestock and overuse of ranges by deer themselves, are typical.
Deer hunters can also attest that fewer deer in the woods is also result.