Definitely something odd going on out there. In areas that used to have lots of deer, there are no deer or few deer. There are plenty of bears in those areas though, so it leads one to wonder if the bear population really is impacting the deer population. It is the only variable that has changed recently. One wonders where this experiment will end up. There should be a natural balance, but it may be that the bears have the upper hand, being highly adaptable. Or maybe, the natural level of the deer population really should be a lot lower than it has been. Or maybe both populations are artificially high. Science in action, or something.