I think the hunting and all that comes with it has to do with the location of the location...within the state it's located in. A good family friend (also very wealthy) bought a very large chunk of land in Illinois. This man has some very impressive deer from GA and knows how to read land. He did kill some deer his first couple years up ther but it was not until he got the neighboring landowners on board with management that they really started seeing results. He has since slayed a few well over the 150 mark as well as the other 2 guys who went in on the land. When Ipick his brainabout this he tells me he thought he would just by in Illinois or Iowa and have BIG deer everwhere. He actually picked ILL because it is a closer drive and that is the only reason over Iowa. He said the entire state is basically a food plot so to speak but not every area has the deer you read about. I have not expierenced it myself, but I respect his opinion as he has done it for many years now. Think of how many members on this site actually live in the big buck states and how few pictures we see of big bucks. You will get no big buck envy from me becausae we have them here...just maybe a few inches less on the head. I love to see the big boys brought in by you guys from these states and respect every kill. I will say location does play a big role...The location of the hunter on a particular day is key. If you ain't there when he is nothing else matters.