.If 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 year old bucks given a free pass to live on,should they not then be available to harvest as 3 1/2 , 4 1/2, and 5 1/2 year old bucks ?
Remember that ARs shift a lot of the hunting pressure to the 2.5+ buck and as a result ,according to the PGC only 20% of our 2.5+ buck survive hunting season. Also ,a significant percentage of the 2.5+ buck that survive are inferior buck that weren't AR legal and may be harvested as scrub racked 3.5 buck and the hunter never realizes he shot a 3.5 buck.