Clem - Yes, since the change I have seen many more mature bucks than I did before the restrictions. Unfortunately, 150+ bucks aren't behind every tree, and no one ever thought they would be. As I mentioned in my original response, "my personal experience" so yes it is anecdotal. I do now remember that it was pushed for by Barbour County landowners and in the past decade I have not heard one landowner or hunter that I come in contact with complain about it.

As for the size of the bucks in my particular area, during that 20 year period, several factors changed. (1) Lots of row crop was converted to pines (2) deer population increased significantly (3) road/night hunting increased significantly. During the early 90's we had some sure enough bruisers come out of the area where I hunt, but you could sit in a stand for three days straight and only see two deer. We still have great deer that come out of the area, but a lot of the land if privately owned and a lot of folks don't talk about the big deer they have taken. We also have a strain of native AL deer which don't carry a lot of mass.

Last thing, our farm/club has been in existence for almost 50 years and we have kept detailed records since mid-90s. The number of large deer killed each year has increased over the past 20 and actually decreased as we have all become more selective.