DEC deer management programs strive to maintain deer herd levels that are compatible with people's use of land and to provide high quality hunting opportunities. To achieve a desired herd population, the concerns of hunters, farmers, foresters, conservationists, the tourist industry and businesses must be addressed. Too large a deer population can have negative impacts on people, such as damage to agricultural crops, increased automobile-deer collisions and abnormal forest growth. I feel there are several factors that affect the increase in today's whitetail population. The mild winters over the past several years have negated virtually any significant winter kill.
Fawns easily make it through the winter, increasing the breeding population in the coming year.
There is more private land every day. Many of these land owners do not want anyone on their land. They may be non-hunters, want the land solely for themselves or may be afraid of liability in a society where everyone sues everyone. Nevertheless, deer take advantage of land that is less accessible to hunters. There is a change of land use.