>>>>However - there are not many places I have ever hunted in this State with 4-5 year old deer running around. How do you get there? Does anyone even really care that we get there?<<<

To answer your last question, I don't care. I have always been happy to just hunt whatever deer that we have on the place. When I was really interested in deer hunting I spent a lot of time scouting and looking for a big track, then would hunt him in January during the rut. If I happened to succeed and kill an older buck, his rack was little more than a curiosity. I was just as happy if he was an older 6 point that scored 90. I never used cameras and seldom knew what the deer looked like until I shot him. I think cameras have changed deer hunting more than anything, and not for the better.

I always wanted the deer herd to be healthy, and to have decent age structure, but I think all of the emphasis on the perfect rack is bad for the sport. The public in AL still supports hunting for food; it doesn't support trophy hunting and that's where all the emphasis seems to be going. What really concerns me is that so many hunters embrace more government restrictions in the hopes that it will somehow help them to kill a bigger buck someday. What difference does it make if your bucks top out at 120 instead of 135? Does anyone think that an extra 15 points to a deer score is gonna make you any happier?

Not me. Guess I am out of touch with the world today.