". . .Another harvest strategy sometimes employed to improve depressed buck:doe ratios is a ?four-point or
better? hunting season. It may seem counterintuitive, but antler point restrictions do not necessarily
produce more large bucks. In a 4-point or better season, the hunter is restricted to harvesting bucks with 4
points or more on either antler. Consequently, all harvest pressure is redirected to the largest deer in the
population, which reduces their number. Since most yearlings and some 2-year old bucks are protected
until they become small 4-point deer, the overall ratio of bucks to does will increase somewhat as a result
of having more young bucks in the population. However, harvest is merely delayed until a buck grows its
first set of 4-point antlers. The maximum benefit of a 4-point season is typically realized after the season
has been in place 2 or 3 years, at which time most 4-point bucks are being harvested. Thereafter, the
buck:doe ratio does not continue to increase and fewer bucks actually survive to grow truly large antlers.
Over the long-term, persistently targeting large bucks may also eliminate desirable genetics (the ability to
grow large antlers) from the population. If the objective is to produce more large deer, the 4-point
restriction must be lifted after 2 years so harvest is once again spread over more age classes. This allows
more of the incoming cohort of 4-point bucks to survive to an older age and potentially grow much larger
antlers. Should the overall buck:doe ratio again decline to an unacceptably low level, the 4-point or better
season can be reinstated for another 2-3 years to augment the number of bucks in the population, and the
process is repeated. Permanent 4-point or better seasons do not produce more large bucks and actually
reduce the harvestable surplus because some of the younger bucks that could have been harvested will die
from other causes before they grow 4-point antlers. In addition, some small bucks are mistaken for legal
bucks and are illegally killed and abandoned. Those deer represent a resource that is lost from the
population and impact hunter opportunity in future years." (The Wyoming Mule Deer Initiative).