I see two conversations here, strategic and tactical.

As far as the perception of being considered succussful, I personally feel that what part of the country you are in should not play a part at all, everyone has to work with what they have, and I judge a hunters skill level accordingly. Not that it really matters to me anyways, we all learned somewhere, and I try and be respectful to all,irrespectful ofskill level. But, I have alot of respect for those guys that can consistently go take decent bucks off of pressured public ground. In our community here, I think there is quite a bit of respect fot that also. In the general hunting public though, I don't think so, at least if you want to talk about all across the country.

On the tactical level of any given hunt being successful, I would only give about half of it to location. The other half is timing. You can have the perfect spot, but if you aren't there at the right time it doesn't matter. A perfect stand for the rut, or late season can be burned out early, ruining it. Location is important, but equally important is the timing and use of the locations under the proper conditions.