I have nothing to prove to anyone, and no regrets about passing on some of the biggest deer I've ever seen, just because I was having a great day and didn't want to spoil it by being burdened with dragging them back. I have looked at some damn nice bucks through my scope and decided that was enough.
I also have to agree with spaniel on the earn a buck program. I feel that we are way past needing it in MO. If it were done right it could solve a lot of problems. I'd like to see a long early season with rifle and bow for does only. The last half of Sept. would do just fine to earn your buck, by helping to manage the herd. Every hunter who wanted to hunt a buck during the rut, a month and a half later, would have to kill a doe. Non-residents could opt to pay an extra fee if they didn't want to take part. In the Nov. rut you would now have possibly fewer hunters, either because they had filled their freezer and didn't care about harvesting a buck and didn't want to buy the more expensive buck only tag, or because they refused, or were unable to do their part for conservation. Point being, their would be fewer people out in the way of serious buck hunters, who killed their doe or paid extra dough to hunt the rut. There would be fewer does to breed which would cause bucks to roam more throughout the day, hopefully in front of me. This would be a buck or doe, any deer, season for buck tag holders only with the same antler restriction we have now, so that there will always be bucks growing to hunt next year. Then after this season the later season should be antlerless only again depending on the previous harvest with possibly a restricted number of tags sold. Hunters who missed the buck season, but still had a doe tag to fill would have another chance. Also, hunters who missed their buck during the rut could still try with a bow or muzzleloader later. I think an earn a buck program done in this way would work best to manage the herd by killing more does, because everyone would try harder if they had to. Allowing everyone to kill our large and plentiful bucks, places no duty upon them to help with herd management. Earning their right to kill a buck seems fair, and needed in order to do a better job of overall management, with a big bonus of growing bigger more active bucks, chasing fewer does and having maybe fewer hunters out in buck season.
I think more does has to equal more unfit to breed bucks, finding opportunities to breed anyway and hurting the overall genetics. Having the does already thinned out before breeding begins would seem to me a good thing because the larger most fit to breed bucks could handle most of the does left to breed and naturally fight off and keep away most of the unfit bucks naturally.