You also need to hit the dang things! Being a flat out good shot/archer is mighty important as well... most mature bucks I've shot/seen got that way for a reason, and that was by not always taking the well-used or expected route. They are the same bucks that leave you frozen and irked when they get a tad weary and say 'screw the trail', only to circle downwind and leave us giving them the snake-eye over our shoulder and watching them take a leak on our tow rope.