I don’t think it’s the genes have returned. Just the age structure is improved. Similar to how antler point restrictions and limiting buck tags to 1-per really shows up in a given areas buck quality.
While I personally choose to hunt for nice rack bucks, I also know others who enjoy hunting aren’t so picky. Be it limited time, limited skill, “buck is a buck” thinking…whatever…producing more big bucks isn’t one of the reasons I vote no to baiting.
The genes have been here. But they were not dominant for a lot of years. Natural selection around here punished the gene lines for bigger racks. The bigger 1.5s got killed before the smaller ones.
I don't have a problem with people going out and killing smaller bucks and does. Just do it hunting. They are not that hard to pattern and kill. Never going to learn how to target the bigger ones sitting on a pile all day. Before someone blasts me for someone shooting a monster on bait. They do make mistakes every once in a while and people do get lucky also.
I am a 100% believer in deer habitat though. Food plots, water holes clear cuts. I will spendy money on making a place somewhere a deer wants to live then dumping piles on the ground. Doesn't make the big ones that much easier to kill. They are still smart as heck and use wind to their advantage all the time.