I think so much of a hunters perspective on this topic is based on obviously what they have experienced in the area's that they hunt.I have gotten extremely frustrated in my home area as it relates to the opportunities available to kill older bucks.(you don't out smart their antlers,you out smart their age).I hunt hard and I hunt often and it is so infrequently that I see a 3.5 year old buck or older,it is just very discouraging.Our NYS harvest statistics have about 80 to 85 percent of our buck take estimated to be 11/2 year olds.In our archery season this year I saw 11 bucks,8 of which were 11/2 year olds,two of which were likely 21/2 year olds and one of which was 31/2 or better.
I spend 10 day's every year rifle hunting in Idaho (thank god!)not far from Troy's neck of the woods.It is always such a let down rifle hunting or muzzleloader hunting home after returning from hunting an area where there is a decent liklihood of seeing a mature buck if you hunt smart and hard.
In the 4 days I rifle hunted and muzzleloader hunted home I saw 18 deer,of those deer only one was a buck and he was a 11/2 year old 4 pointer.What practical purpose would have been served in me killing that buck?
We are way over browsed and way out of balance.I have read atlasmans theory on herd balance as I have read the editor of deer and deer hunting's take on herd balance.What they have written is that it is impossible at the beginning of the hunting season to have a ratio of more than 3 doe's to 1 buck.Biologically that is pretty hard to dispute.Of course as the hunting season goes on the ratio's widen considerably.What I think would be of greater interest at least in my home area are the ratio of doe's to buck at ages beyond 11/2 year old bucks.I think that would be very eye opening.How many doe's are there for every 3.5 year old or older buck.Considering I had over 100 hours of hunting time in our woods and saw one 3.5 year old buck and saw at least 35 doe's that I know to be different deer.
I apologize for being so lengthy,some things you just can't illustrate quickly! Our current set of circumstances is not satisfactory to me personally!