I'm wondering (help me) how this constitutes a "healthier herd". Who's to say the genes the 3.5yr old is carrying are superior to the ones the 1.5yr old is carrying? Just because the 3.5yr old is doing a lot of breeding.....is this necessarily a "good" thing? IF you view a better cross-section of age groups as being a "healthier herd".....then I see your point. I look at it like this......
Give me a team of stud freshmen baseball players......and pit them against a group of mediocre juniors and seniors....and Ill take my chances with the youngsters. You're guaranteeing (by instituting AR's....in a LOT of instances) that the inferior bucks WILLlive to see another year.....when maybe they aren't the best breeding stock you have. What could be better than "natural selection".....and letting the TRUE cream of the crop rise? Will you kill some of these potential studs by NOT having AR's? Yep. Will as many inferior bucks slip through the cracks (by virtue SOLELEY of what's on their heads)? Yep. They're breeding, too.
It would seem to me.....that the bucks who elude hunters (although they risk peril, every year.....regardless of their headgear)are thegreatest examples of "natural selection". I've never seen any studies that show that a larger rack = intelligence.
This whole thing reminds me of 5 years ago.
1. Much of whatI read says that genetic makeup/potential CANNOT be determined from 1st year racks. So you have just as much chance at killing the next booner whether you shoot a forky or a basket 8.
2. What
I (my opinion only) is that, a healthier herd is one that allows the deer to grow and reach thier potential and lets THEM sort out who breeds. (to the best extent possible).
3. Bucks eluding hunters in PA have nothing to do with being the best at elduing hunters nad being the best natural selection tool, it ALL has to do with random luck.
4. The significance of small(less points) bucks living real long and dilluting down the gene pool is statistically insignificant. We are not over run with mature 4 pts like the gloom & doomers predicted.
5. No one said AR's are perfect, and I know they have thier short comings. BUT unless you can get a VAST majority of people to buy in to QDM, one of the few ways to achieve saving a few more bucks each season, is implementing an AR program