I understand the question absolutely....Im just admitting that the big bucks beat me more than I beat them....I don't care if it is the rut or not...they are still not easy to kill, if it were, then everybody would killing them...if someone is finding it that easy to kill big bucks in the rut, then I really do suck!!! Now, there are many days in the rut when the average dude picks up the ML and goes out and kills a monster without ever scouting or putting in the effort, I know it happens here every year...guys don't bowhunt much here, but oh boy do they ML hunt, and when asked why, they always say "it's the rut, the big boys dumb..."" So I can see what he's saying, but to kill em with a bow in the rut, is not that easy for me, a modern ML, maybe takes the edge off of the challenge b/c of the sheer distance of shooting range allowed....