He passed a 170" 12 in that stretch because he knew it was young and definitely get to 200" with another year or two. I about puked! But, if you know no one is going to kill that deer, and have enough land to ensure that, why not right?
Unless he owns or has total control of several thousands of acres, there is no guarantee that one particular buck will not be killed somewhere else. Core area or not when big bucks start roaming for does, they can and will roam far beyond their "core" area.