Gr8, very good post. In my camp we are seeing the same thing. The last few years since ARs we have seen a drastic improvement in the deer we are taking from our camp. My dad is a 2-3 day a year hunter anymore and in the last 3 years he has taken 2 of the biggest bucks of his life in nearly 50 years of hunting. ARs are definitely having an impact, and to that point and DropTine's original point the earn-a-buck and ARs in certain zones have had a great impact in NJ as well. When I first started hunting NJ you would see some 2.5 year olds and they were good bucks. Now you seen the same number of 3.5 year olds as you did 2.5 year olds when I started and they are some very nice bucks. Unfortunately, for me they are a year wiser and I don't seem to be getting any smarter.

Atlas, I have a legitimate question that is not intended to start/restart a fight. Of those 50+ hunters you were talking to, did any of them mention how many doe tags they filled when the state increased the allotment? If they didn't get/fill any, then I truly feel bad for them, but I find that many of the guys that complain that they don't see any deer couldn't stay off the trigger when the state made the seasons concurrent and increased the number of antlerless tags.