Nothing is more difficult to kill than a buck who is 4 1/2 or more years old. This is a whitetail that has survived into his 5th hunting season and certainly seems to know what the "game" is all about. This mature animal has graduated with a PhD in survivial tactics and human aviodence. Gone is ANY naivity that gets many lesser animals tagged every season. I don't believe that they have some sort of super powers as some would have you believe but by the time they get to be that old they no longerhaveANY curiousity and it's strictly about survival. When alerted or even remotely suspicious of anything they resort to survival mode.... hide, either by laying low or slipping away. Of course, as mentioned, the most common way to do this is by going nocturnal. I've personally been fortunate enough to hunt a few whitetails that we KNEW lived in the area but yet once the animal matured, no one seen them during daylight.... ever! The only thing that could ever seem to catch them were trail cams and, as to be expected, the photos were always in the middle of night. Without the trail cams the only proof we would have every season was the occasional shed antler. A couple of these animals were 7 1/2 and 8 1/2 before they finally vanished forever. They are simply amazing survival machines once mature and the reason my respect for them seems to grow even more every season. Tougher to hunt once mature..... YES SIR!