Studies have estimated poaching rates so I assume that is where the percentage came from.

However, studies have shown that TeleCheck had no impact on the rate of deer that were not checked in. That is all we care about, policy-wise, since we manage based on harvest data.

If we could somehow do a true census, we could apply all the factors and come up with much better harvest goal, likely a quota. But we can't. So we don't.

Our policy is based on imperfect data. It is a relative data management scheme. It is therefore slow to react since we need trends over time. We were slow to react to overpopulation. And we will be slow to react when the pendulum swings the other way. Tough to steer a battleship.

Also, we are forced to manage over large tracts of land, i.e. counties.

Did you know that only 26 states require deer to be checked in? Some that do not get their data from hunter surveys.