It takes a few years for the deer herd to recover after hard winters. We had two in a row. Last winter was mild, but the deer numbers were down going into last hunting season, and hunting take took more. This means we had fewer adults for this spring reproduction. The 2009 fawn crop which was down provides the spikes to small 3 points, for this year. This years fawns are where the new deer are coming from, this year is probably the low point for adult deer 1 1/2 years and older. Next year we should start to see a increase providing we have a average or milder winter. It will be 2011 or 12 before we see a good population increase.