Did they turn into serpent lizards and then change into butterflies and fly away??
How many different colors were they??

Here is the skinny...
Yes, there were the rare big buck kills at any time in history. The fact that Bob's pap won the contest with that basket 9 point does not mean there were no bigger taken. It just means that the locals who entered the contest didn't shoot a bigger buck that year. Notwithstanding.....that basket rackin RSB's first photo was considered a very nice trophy up until AR. That basket was never considered a monster, but it was rare enough to hold some weight at the time.
Deer being considered monsters were extremely rare. Rare enough that guys would drive 3 counties to get a peek.
Now we have fairly huge deer that hardly get a rise out of people. That is what is bringing back the hunters in PA, in contrast to the rest of the nation. Pa has expansive public land with the potential to provide any hunter with his dream buck.
Go to the other states and you had better own the land, or pay dearly for a few days of opportunity.