Antler points were used as opposed to spreads because spreads were subjective at best. Who can tell decidedly in the field a 14 or 13 inch spread? Its easy to count points. A deer in the northeast with three points on one side is in all likelyhood a 2.5 year old deer. Of course there are exceptions, but as a rule, it works pretty well.

The other part of the equation was if the deer reached 2.5 years old, it had a much better chance of reaching 3 or 4 years of age before it was harvested. This in and of itself would increase the buck doe ratio as bucks tend to get smarter as they age and experience a couple of hunting seasons.