even the Black Plague was not a sufficient mortality event to cause much of a dent in human popn growth, so the deer herd analogy does not work on a popn ecology level
You don't think?
The Black Death in Numbers
From 1347 to 1350 the Black Death struck Europe:
· In less than two years 30% to 60% of the population of Europe was wiped out.
· Nearly 75 million died in western Europe alone.
· 18000 people died in London in the course of three years.
· Almost 1/3 of the worlds population had died from the plague by 1350.
· Estimates go from 100 to 200 million deaths worldwide.
· The mortality rate of the bubonic plague was 30% to 75% percent.
· Within 1-7 days the first symptoms occurred, including fever, nausea, headache and an infection the lymph nodes.
The aftermath of the plague created a series of religious, social, and economic upheavals, which had profound effects on the course of European history. It took 150 years for Europe's population to recover.
30-60% and 150 years sounds like a pretty big dent to me.