Well, as much as I agree with what everyone has said so far, I also have to say that in my 4th year here as well, and I see lots of bucks. Seen a few doozies (in my book, 8-10pt), as well as a few medium (5-7), and lots of little ones. I'd say most of what I say within gun shooting range (for some people, not me past 100 yds), are in the 5-7pt range. As for the big ones, we had a very large 10 walk across the field 50 yds away from us last year, but it was bow season.

My husband has taught me 98% of what i know and practice in hunting. He has taken some nice bucks on the very small area of land we have permission to hunt. We only have about 3-4 acres of woods that we have permission for... We are conscious about our scent, but we do not go to extremes to cover it. I wash my clothes in normal laundry soap most of the time. We smoke before we hunt, we chew in the stand, we whisper, we take the same path in each and every time, we walk down the deer trails to our stands, I could go on and on and on about the things we do "wrong" in many hunter's philosophies. However, we see a ton of bucks. I would say we have a 4 doe to 1 buck ratio. EVERY YEAR.

Because of the small woods we hunt, it doesn't "hold" deer permanently. Basically if we see a 10pt one year, we don't expect to see the same deer the next year, it's just not enough space, and there are a lot of distractions to deer around. We hunt only about 200 yards off of a very busy highway, we have houses that have dogs, kids, loud noises abounding all around us. Also noticing more and more sign of an increasing coyote population every year.

Of course we could do things better in some people's books, but we have two kids and one on the way and not as much time to invest as we would like to have. We take what we can get and we are happy for the land we have to hunt. Our area is so saturated with hunters it is soooo hard to acquire land.

I think it just depends on your area and the saturation of hunters. It also has a lot to do with conservation guidelines. We have a one buck rule here in Indiana, so I think that helps a ton. My father in law owns 40+ acres of prime hunting land in Northern Michigan, but he hardly EVER sees bucks during hunting season. I think a ton of it depends on where you are and what nature has to offer.

What these guys say absolutely can and *is* effective for taking big bucks, everyone's situation is different.