If you were one of the 16221 people who drew a deer tag this year you had reason to celebrate. Just five yean ago there were 57,134 deer tags available to the hunters in our state. To put it another way, we have lost 72% of our available deer tags in just five yean. In addition, the money generated from those tags is also lost. This not only hurts game programs but private business as well. HUNTER'S ALERT checked with some of the Southern Nevada taxidermists and meat processing plants. Here are some of their comments.

THOMPSON TAXIDERMY: "My deer mounting is down 73%. People coming into my shop report seeing very few trophy bucks and they are not seeing many deer at all. They are seeing a lot of coyotes and mountain boo tracks. Most are asking for predator control. No one has seen carcasses from a winter kill.

STUDIO OF TAXIDERMY ART: "My

deer mounting is down 70%. I am mounting more animals from out of state."

GREAT BASIN TAXIDERMY: "My

deer mounting is down 71%. I've mounted more out of state elk than I have Nevada deer."

CARTER TAXIDERMY: "My deer mounting is down 93%. Hunters are not seeing anything decent One hunter saw a mountain Hon. Others reported seeing lots of coyotes. One hunter wounded a deer late in the evening. Early the next morning when he found the deer, the hind quarters were eaten out by predators."

JOHN MULL'S MEAT PROCESSING:

"My deer processing is down 76%. Deer are in better shape which means plenty of food for the few remaining deer."

STEWART MEAT AND DEER PROCESSING: "My processing is down 70%. The body weight of the deer are definitely larger this year."

As you can see the lack of deer has an effect on many businesses. It is

too bad the director of Nevada Department of Wildlife and the Wildlife Commissioners have allowed our game numbers to reach this pitiful situation.