John, I hate to disagree with you here, but NJ's statewide stats completely contradict your friend's observations (and I can provide them for you ). His bussiness may be booming, but are all the bucks really from zones with AR's? First let me say that I don't think it's entirely because of AR that fewer big bucks are coming from the zones with antler restrictions, but the fact is that more big bucks, and the top end bucks are coming from zones without AR's. I do think AR's play a role in fewer bucks coming from those zones, but it's mostly because we can kill so many bucks.

No matter how you try to spin it, antler restrictions put more pressure on bucks with 6 points (or 8) or more, soley because hunters must pass the smaller deer and wait on one that fits that criteria. The guy that would have shot the spike that came along first, now must wait on an AR legal deer, and instead of shooting his spike and getting out of the woods, he sticks around long enough to get the AR legal buck.

In NJ, that factor, which may seem insignificant in areas where one buck is the rule, becomes very significant when compounded by the fact a hunter can do that very same thing 6 times each season. It's common sense, and it's been proven in numerous recent studies done by biologists on the leading edge of this debate in the south. Now, add in the additional buck loss from aggressive antlerless harvest that result in an increased number of button bucks being killed to fulfill EAB requirements, and you have a decrease in buck fawn recruitment, which in turn means fewer 1.5 year olds the following year. So basically, what we have is a situation where an increase in pressure is being placed on bucks with 6 points or more, and increased pressure is being placed on button bucks (not intentionally), so bucks are being reduced on both ends of the age scale. The only real protected class is the 1.5 yr old, sub 6-point bucks. And usually, most of them are killed when they reach the legal criteria. There most likely are more deer graduating from 1.5 to 2.5 yrs old at first, but after a few years of increased BB kills, there will be fewer 1.5 moving to 2.5, soley because there are fewer 1.5 to begin with. And with more pressure being placed on 2.5 yr olds (and hunters killing more 2.5 yr olds), even fewer deer will move from 2.5 to 3.5 yrs old.

In heavily hunted regions, where pressure is intense on bucks (like Pa and NJ), you get no net gains in mature (3.5 yr old+) from AR's, and if BB are not carefully protected, you get a net loss after a few years. That is the reality of antler restrictions in some places.

John, hunters like yourself who place a higher standard on the bucks they kill, and hunting near pockets of restricted access are the largest contributing factors to bigger deer being taken in NJ. It certainly isn't anything F & W has done, AR and EAB included.

AR's can work great in situations where hunters can more tightly control what is harvested, but in heavily hunted areas (and where hunters can kill so many bucks) they have not delivered the promised goods. That fact has been proven, and widely discussed, by hundreds of Gary Alt's peers. And I'm sure that is why they are all watching Pa.