I dont know about deer regulations in all states - but in most of the south, doe bag limits allow the opportunity to prevent being overpopulated with deer. We can kill six antlerless deer. Me, my wife, son, and his buddy hunt my 400 acres. Also have a couple of grand daughters who are getting a little blood thirsty. We could kill 36 does if we wanted to. Any overpopulation problems would be on us. In fact - my camera surveys in 2013 showed 4 antlerless deer. That was primarily due to us buying into our G&F kool-aide of balancing the herd. We shot our does, striving to balance the herd. Trouble is, when your doe population gets that low in our area - with a sub .5 fawn recruitment number - the few does left cant produce enough fawns to keep up with mortality. Bucks bred the few does in a hurry - and then left - looking for greener pastures. In our case, we should have allowed the bucks to increase to match the doe numbers to balance the herd, instead of decreasing the doe numbers. Took us a couple of years to decrease the doe population. Took us seven years to get them back. That was a harsh lesson. 26 antler-less deer on last years camera survey. 24 unique bucks.
There is a 10,000 acre hunting lease about ten miles from me. There are 40 members. They are overpopulated with deer. They average killing 40 does per year. They could kill 240 - plus they get extra doe tags because they are enrolled in DMAP. Family members also hunt. They can bring a guest. They could probably legally kill 500 or 600 does per year - but kill 40 and then gripe about too many deer. I know several folks - including myself - who have volunteered to go kill some does on their lease. They have no one to blame but themselves.
