Charlie P:
Sense it was my quote that started this thread, I guess I can answer some of the questions that you contiue to ask.
If a buck has little hunting pressure and a good deal of human contact. Is a big rack a good indicatator of a trophy?
Just because that deer has little hunting pressure, does not mean it is "tame" or easy to hunt. What is your defintion of "a good deal of human contact"?
Why would the larger older deer be as leery of man as a deer on heavily hunted piece of property?
Old mature deer are wild animals, it makes no difference if they live on heavily hunted land or land that recieves very little hunting. Deer are not going to lose there fear of humans just because they arent shot at every time they stick there head out of the brush. Deer ( along with all wild animals) have evolved to fear humans.
So what's the big deal if your shooting older bucks on a managed property if they aren't any smarter then a 2.5 yr old on public land?
Why would you think that they arent any smarter then deer that live on heavily hunted public land? Your above question is pretty dumb, and it is clear that you dont have much experience in the topic that you are talking about. What is the big deal?? Belive it or not, any time a true trophy buck is taken (150"+) people are impressed with it. Old mature bucks are hard to hunt/kill no matter where you hunt.
On the ranches that I manage, alot of the old mature bucks are never seen. We have some truly huge bucks running around but the only time we see them is on trail camera pictures, during the rut, and/or when we do a helicopter survey. These deer have thousands of acres to roam and have little reason to step out of the thick brush, so the chances of them being seen is very slim.
I'll contiue..........