In PA, while some people believe otherwise, antler restrictions along with a drastic reduction in the doe population was an attempt to do something about about the uneven age structure of the herd. About 60 percent of PA's buck were killed at a year and a half old, essentially yearlings. Most of the buck never made it beyond that. The biologists said it was unhealthy to continue to kill off the young buck so they initiated antler restrictions along with herd reduction which needed to be done decades ago, there were just too many deer and the habitat damage was evident if you knew how to see it. A by-product of the antler restrictions was larger rack buck were becoming more common each year and I have seen more big antlers in the last 7 or 8 years than I have in my entire 50 plus years of deer hunting. Some continue to say the restrictions are for trophy buck, that is false, allowing buck to live longer naturally produced bigger racks and bodies. I m not a big fan of antler restrictions but I support it because it is better for the herd in general and I don't target big buck anyway. There are states that manage for big racks but PA is not one of them. In some areas of the state the deer took a heavy hit in the population, that was needed. Slowly the PGC is allowing some areas to increase the population slowly as the habitat dictates, the goal is about a 50/50 sex ratio, I don't know if they will reach it, wildlife management is not an exact science, different areas require different techniques, wildlife for the most part is in constant flux, it has to be because there are too many conditions that cannot be controlled.