By the way - we often see more bucks in the pre-season than we do during the hunting season. This has been the case since Alt was a bear guru. Summer patterns are predictable and the humans that the deer come in contact with are either hiking, biking or working - not hunting. Right now, deer have no problem crossing a road in the day time and they'll feed in a field before it gets dark. After the first frost, feeding patterns will change. Then comes small game and archery. Once rifle season hits, the feeding patterns have changed, the rut has come and gone and the deer have been pressured. The deer still exist but are less visible. Big bucks are nocturnal and does will have different patterns than they did when they were visible in September. Yearling bucks will move off to other areas also. I'm not taking either side of this argument - I'm reporting the facts as I see them. Put some corn out after the season and you'll see those deer coming out of the wood work. It just makes you realize that they are tough to find even when they are out there. Ever cast every lure in your tackle box to a fish you can see? Just because he's there, doesn't mean you'll catch him. I wouldn't mind seeing more deer either but I just take every hunting season as it comes.