I think that the reason the buck kill has gone down by "tens of thousands" is because the program is going as designed. More people are shooting does, but as a consequence, more BB are being harvested. There are definetly more bucks out there now, just not the gross gains that some folks assume would come. Some think that if the buck kill goes down by 20,000 every year that there will be a buck behind every tree in 2 years. Other factors still reduce the gains, such as BB harvest, competition mortality, car collisions and also the fact that if a buck lives to be 3.5 or older, you are going to have a heck of a time hunting him. They get real smart and elusive the older they get. AR has two goals, let bucks have the chance to mature and kill more does. Both are happening. As the doe numbers go down there will also be lower reproduction every year which lessens the amount of new bucks. Simply put, the herd is reduced and there are some big bucks around every year.