ORIGINAL: Steve863
So now it seems 2 1/2 year olds are being shot over the 1 1/2 year olds that used to get shot. So what is the difference in the scheme of things?? In reality nothing. Horn hunters now just have a little bigger rack to brag with, while the herd itself doesn't benefit at all. Whether a buck breeds with a doe at 1 1/2 years of age or 3 1/2 years of age the genetic makeup it passes is the same. AR's are put in place simply to try to make trophy hunters happy. As far as a management tool, it doesn't make one bit of difference since a states goal is to reduce deer numbers and they could care less how many points the bucks antlers have when it gets shot by a hunter. Of course they will try to justify it by some biological theories just so they don't have to admit that they are only doing it to keep the horn hunters happy. That surely wouldn't look good to the non-hunters who are looking in on all this.
There are good biological reasons for AR and increased doe harvest:
1. It improves the buck / doe ratio.
2. This will concentrate thebreeding season, and reduce the incidence of late fawns.
3. It will reduce stress on the does. If they get bred 1st time in heat, then they can settle in for winter, not have second estrous, have fawn at normal time, have full growing season for fawn to nurse and wean.
4. Only the older, higher quality "survivor" bucks will breed. This will increase the genetic quality of the herd.
5. With the improved buck / doe ratio and breeding competition, the yearling bucks won't breed hardly at all, won't exhaust themselves, and will be more likely to survive healthier.
6. Reduced deer populations will allow damaged habitat to recover.