As with all things, mine is only an opinion. For my own reasons, I beleieve that the deer management strategy in Pennsylvania had to change. Our buck to doe ratio is way out of wack. When you consider that whitetail deer are born on approximately a 50/50 birth rate of males/females, why do we have so many doe? Simply, because we place so much emphasis on the taking of bucks. The average age of bicks taken for years now has only been between one-two years. These are not mature deer. At least with the antler restrictions some of the deer may live to reach several years of age. I've been hunting deer for 36 years and have only a few times taken a deer that was older than 3 years. Why, because many people have had the "if it's brown, it's down" philosophy. I personally would like to see more mature (older) bucks, even if it means that I go several years without actually harvesting one. Dr. Alt, while many may disagree with his vews, has proven that he is a top rate whildlife manager. If a person was of a mind to and did some research on his work with the black bear in Pennsylvania it can be seen that he does his homework. No this doesn't make him an expert on deer, but if he can figure out how to make a black bear prosper, he can do so with the deer.
Good hunting to all who come here!