A kid should also be able to keep 1 redfish under 20" on any given day. Same principle. Fish all day catching nothing or undersized fish, then hook one 18-19"er - kid should be able to take that one home for dinner. That fish was legal in Texas for most of time, and is legal in many states today anyway. But I digress...

The OP's post is not about what the effect of AR's are having where he is hunting, but more about what happens when you have numerous small acreage tracts surrounding you, and everyone is filling tags.
A deer reaches 13" and it is shot, and there is no older age groups older than 3 years old.

Yep, and if it was anything like where I grew up, segmented land with many people hunting on smaller acreage and no doe harvest allowed, you could drive past an open field and see 50 deer and not a buck in the lot.

Agree with others - it does not seem to me that the restriction has anything to do with genetics, but simply a reasonable method to allow young bucks to mature to a point they at least approach their potential. Also, the longer a buck survives, the wiser he becomes - avoiding feeders during daylight, laying low when there is a lot of unusual activity, etc. That and a little luck may allow a good buck to survive several more years before opportunity knocks.

In my area of Brown County, even though we've only owned for 6 years, there has been an improvement in mature bucks that I see now, as opposed to when we first purchased. Some of this could be environment as we were just coming out of the drought in 2015, but the doe numbers have remained fairly consistent while the mature buck numbers have improved.

Problem is, how do you know who pulled the trigger?

How do you know who pulls the trigger now?

Don't.

Not a fan of the Youth Weekend either..

The reason my son is able to sit in a stand for hours is because he is hooked on hunting from hunting small game, hogs, and such. He's shot doe and hogs, now it's time for a buck. We can hunt all year without seeing a spike. Anyway, I'm just on the side that any kid should be able to shoot a first buck, regardless. But, that's really the only problem I have with the restrictions. I wouldn't shoot a buck under 13 without the reg in place. It's all about the kiddos for me.

AR’s can be a hard thing. There are a lot of factors that play into their success and failure. Being on a small property with even smaller properties around you with owners that want to shoot more deer per acre than their land will support doesn’t help. Definitely get the frustration of trying to get sons and daughters out in the woods and excited about being there.
We are fortunate in our situation and they seem to be working well for us, but like I said we’re blessed with most of the neighbors we have and we put a lot of work into what we have.

The ARs are not the primary reason…small farms and their owners/hunters are. I’ve been on a lease in San Angelo and it was outstanding for the first year, second year the land on the backside and the land across the highway added hunter…by the end of the second year there was nothing left worth shooting and we were not in an AR county. Your blaming ARs when the reality it’s tge hunters around you that aren’t allowing the bucks to mature.

Try deer hunting and taking your son when you might see 2-3 deer, does a year! That’s the way it was before ARs…I hunted public land for more than 15 years and you were lucky to see a deer much less a buck. Yes, I understand the frustration and yes, there are challenges with ARs but explain to me what would work better. Tags do not work! A landowner who owns 50 acres allows his children and grandchildren to come deer hunt. 4 children and 8 grandchildren and everyone has 1 buck and 1 doe…they all idea the law and kill a buck and doe…how long do you think there will be deer to hunt on his 50 acres and on the land around him?

Kenny, I saw this post a few days ago and waited to reply

Im in Cottondale, raised here

If I recall, your place is near the plateaus

They are working, AR’s work proof is in the pudding

My guess is you have “bad” neighbors

And as many people are moving here, it’s likely

In the past 5 years I’ve saw more 150 class bucks than I ever have in 40 years on this earth

When I say that I mean it.

ARs should have roll back no restrictions every six year

We have a youth weekend, bow season, rifle season etc

I wouldn’t be opposed at all to a under 13 weekend

There are exceptions to every rule no doubt

I’ve saw pics here.

I will say this, some people that aren’t family that I’d do anything for, have a hair trigger on bucks

I mean I just can’t trust them to take mature buck

If you don’t know what I am saying, maybe you’re fortunate

Keep AR’s