Locally, for instance the surrounding buffer lands of the AEDC site have been utilized by TWRA and the USAF to promote public relations agendas and to provide hunting access when access on private lands has become more restricted. Some AEDC land has been groomed explicitly to promote deer herds, and some land adjacent to Woods Reservoir have been groomed to favor the needs of waterfowl hunters. Planting of non-native species of grasses and other plants for deer food will likely end as well. On a sustainable ecosystem basis, deer herd size is likely to be much lower than present levels. We can anticipate that a transformation of wildlife management from hunter to observer-oriented will take place as development continues and as hunting becomes a more and more problematic solution to the problem of herd management.
Shotguns are substantially safer for deer hunting in developed areas.
There are strong legal and symbolic prejudices against the use of shotguns for deer hunting in Tennessee, but hunters will be increasingly pressured to accept this if they want to continue to hunt in developing areas. It is naive in the extreme for hunters or the general public to imagine that life is still pretty much like it was in the 1950's or that ecosystems are essentially static or that the rates of development will peak and taper off. As population continues to grow and as the rate of development increases, the nature, type, and quality of outdoor recreation will continue to shift toward group-based activities such as team sports or repetitive activities such as boating.