I thought my statement might put things into perspective. Guess not.

As far as this stated 20% survivng.... They are the youngest of the legal AR buck to be shot, with the exception of a very few 1 1/2 year olds with good genetics... so yes, the younger the deer the higher likelihood of being able to outsmart them thus a higher percentage will be killed.

Who has the stats on the percentage of 4 year old buck being harvested? The number isn't too high being the deer pop is low and few live to be that old. Most are shot as barely legal AR buck before they get that old.

Unfortunately for meI have only seen 1 AR legal buck this year and that was a small 5 point. I do have pics of 2 nice 120" -maybe 130" buck but I haven't seen them yet. They seem to be coming into the area at night and early morning.(I guess that's b/c they aren't "smarter" than the 2 1/2 yr olds).
Since I know they are around I will be holding out for one of them even if it takes till late archery. I feel if I shoot a smaller AR buck early I miss out on seeing other game such as bears, foxes, coons. Last week a hawk swooped in and snatched a squirrel out of the tree 10 ft from me. It's seeing things like this that makes hunting enjoyable. I would like to see more deer, I have gotten used to not seeing many so when I do get to see some other wildlife it pacifies me to an extent. But it is nice to see what you are hunting for.