Great post. I used to think that if i ever wanted to kill a P&Y book buck i was going to have to go out west, texas or canada. I never thought that it was possible to get one here in NJ without being extremely lucky. The largest buck that i have seen might have gone 135 here, which is a monster, but i thought that wasa 1-million. Actually i take that back, i have seen 2 book bucks. Anyhow, few and far between i thought. Last year before the season started, imet afriends buddy named Rick. Well for some reason Rich and i hit it off and he took me under his wing and showed me things i never even knew to look for and told me not only where and when to hunt a particular area, but also the reason behind it. Rich killed 3 pope and young bucks last year and another deer that would have been but killed it with a gun. (In NJ you can kill up to 6 Bucks if you have all the right tags.) When i questioned him on it, he mentioned that he only kills deer of that caliber now and has been for the last 4-5 years. I never even knew these deer lived in the area. Now i have higher goals, i havent killed one but atleast i know they are there.
My point is that like someone mentioned earlier, im sure there are a few "monster" deer where everyone hunts. By monster i mean by local standards, that might be a 100 deer of a booner, all depends. Just cause we arent seeing them doesnt mean they are there, i found that out and if i didnt meat my new pal, i would still think i had to pay for an expensive tripto the promised land. Also look at people who post trail camera pictures stating "Look at this monster, i never even knew there were deer like this in the area." They are out there, doesnt mean we will get them, but i do think they are more common than we think, no matter where we are.
Likemany people mentioned,it all comesdown to desire. My friend Rich spends atleast 40 hours a week in the woods come deer season, i cant put that kind of time in cause of other priorities. Wish i could but thats life. Other things such asfamily and big game fishing aremore important and cut into my time. Do i want to kill the biggest buck out there- hells yeah, i just have to work alittle harder for him.

Ps- Im going to get that monster this fall and the smile on my face will be from ear to ear!