ORIGINAL: White-tail-deer
SS some of this would be true if the non-legal AR deer all had inferior genes. But it has been proven by scientific research that an "inferior" antlered deer at 1.5 usually have as good or better genes than the better antlered AR legal 1.5 year old deer.
No that has not been proven to be true. There has been relatively little if any research where the DNA makeup of 1.5 spikes has been compared larger 1.5 buck. One thing that has been proven is that culling 1.5 spike buck does not improve the genetics of the herd. Another thing that has been proven is that harvesting the best buck in each age class leads to high grading and results in a decrease in rack sizes of 2.5+ buck. It has also been prove n that the average 1.5 spike has a slower rate for antler development than a 1.5 Y or 6 pt.