Scott, you've touched on exactly where I was headed next. Wild deer do not live in a static environment, unlike the fish in our ponds. I suppose I could head down to the river and institute a feeding program at a convenient spot on the bank, similar to a food plot for deer, and probably encourage a few catfish to hang around and reap the benefits of that feed I'm throwing. But if those fish travel downstream and get caught on a legal trotline after I've grown them to a larger size, I have no reason to gripe. That's just the way it is.
If I have food plots for the deer and I watch them come and browse on my trail cam, then my neighbors harvest them legally, I still have no gripe coming. That's how it works, why be upset? The fish in my pond belong to me, and only I have a say on how they are harvested. Those deer are a shared resource, and belong to the people of the state. And just like managing fish, not everyone will share in my idea of what constitutes proper management, nor should they be made to abide only by what I feel is acceptable harvest practice.
That's my problem with deer management. Is it really management, or simply a terrestrial equivalent of adding cover and/or attractant to the pond, in order to try and concentrate the fish for easier angling?
I thinking it may be the latter, and it's masked behind management. And if that's your thing, then it's cool with me so long as it's legal. Just step up and own it...."I killed this deer because it was the biggest I've seen." Not so much improving the herd, as improving the space above the fireplace.
