RE: They are not behind every tree
Whoa, whoa, whoa. You mean not everyone in Illinois, Iowa or Wisconsin shoots a huge, monster of a buck every year? From reading the boards on a Minnesota-specific site (sorry, I'm a cheater I know), if only Minnesota would be like those states in terms of its DNR-imposed management strategies, every one of us would slay a bigun each year on opening day. And we'd all hold hands and tiptoe through the tulips. Big bucks require work, no matter where you're at.
I see guys all around me locally griping there are no big bucks. Then I pick up my Outdoor News each week and see picture after picture of guys - and gals in Minnesota holding up 150-180 class bucks with a bow slung across them. They are out there. They are just indeed not behind every tree.