While I agree with the intent of your post, I will take slight issue with this generalization... Remember, you were hunting private land in Illinois...
In Illinois, the deer came in to nearlyevery rattle, bleat, and grunt I made. There were deer ALL OVER the place, and they don't walk around the woods looking up into the trees! You can pick the buck you want, and hunt him. If you don't shoot him, there's a very good chance he'll be around next year because the hunting pressure is so light.
Things change in a hurry when it's public land; then, it's more like you described your Michigan experience. If you don't believe me, ask my buddy Matt / PA, whom I hosted here for eight straight days about how hard we hunted Illinois while he was here... and I think we know just a little about bowhunting...
But, that's a minor issue to the point of your story. I agree there's way more to what goes into a trophy than the size of the antlers.
