So here we go with a visual aid…….The dotted line represents where the Bankhead doe herd originally expanded out to and maybe the solid line is where it exists today. I know its probably not exact but it’s the concept at play here that more important.

Like Matt said, for a long, long time the Bankhead doe herd has only been bound by the lack of habitat around the perimeter and they’ve had virtually zero pressure pushing back against them from an outside stocking source. Deer herds only “push” outward in a direction when they are exceeding the limitations of the habitat. So there’s been no push coming from the west.

That has changed in recent time though and it’s the reason why the line has retreated back some. In the last 25 years you’ve suddenly got another doe stocking source in the west beginning to exceed it limits and “push” eastward. Look at the bigger picture set up…..The Nov lineage has a low density interior population that’s likely held well under actual capacity by public hunters…….being “pushed” against by a much higher density burgeoning population from the west. This is where the roads come into play and serve as buffers…..They help to slow down the “push” in either direction through road mortality.

However, in our case here we really don’t have a roadway that’s going to slow it down much so the march eastward by the restocked herd is going to be completely dependent on the doe management and reproduction occurring on either side of the line……or buffer zone. That doenst bode well for the future of the Bankhead doe herd.

I’d say that the situation is really hinging on the doe management of those private landowners on the outskirts of Bankhead…..Are they thinning does and allowing “space” for the other burgeoning stock to move into??.....or are they keeping their properties at max capacity??......I think if that buffer line every retreats back to nothing but the low density interior then then fat lady will have sung.

Again…..the timing or if it happens is all dependent on how the management plays out from here. Its not a given that the Bankhead herd will persist into perpetuity just because its made it to this point.