Lets here it ....

You all know what kind of top end bucks your area produces right???? so ....What makes the top endbucks in your hunting locals...soHARD TO KILL with a bow and arrow.

whathasmolded their survival behaviors and what noticeablebehaviors seperate them from the other deer in your local herds..

I'm not interested in general statements..instead I want to knowwhat you have personally observed/witnessed and learned aboutthe big boysover time ...

My area is the overpopulation of the deer. There are just so many deer running around, it's hard predict exectly when/where the herd will move next. The big ones are very much around, I've se quite a few each year. They just don'tdefend an area because there so many deer. You really have to be luckey enough to set up where they will cross your path that hunt. You also have to be real good if you have a bunch of deer around you because it's tough to get a shot off with so many eye balls.

I have noticed that alot of the more mature bucks are loners. They show up looking for does by themselves. The ones I have seen that came in while there were other deer there, he would come down an run everything off because he was hyped up on testrone an if the wind was right you could smell him.They also cover a wider range than younger bucks making them seem moreuntouchable. They move more at night time. I hunted one a few years ago thatyou would see his tracks on the way in to your stand where he had been running all night long. I was never able to intercept him. I think one of the biggest is they are loners an they don't play the same game that younger bucks play.

Is this what you was looking for?

I really like this question and will be interested to hear what others have to say.For me in my home area it is either pressure or access for the most part.The best bucks are taken off of private ground or they are taken way back in the mountains.The mountain land is state land which you are not allowed to take a four wheeler in on,so you are hoofing it back in,which isn't always practical from a time perspective.The private land is broken up in mostly small pieces of acreage,because of suburban sprawl creating subdivisions or lots of three and five acre lots.
I have killed my best two bow bucks on the same small piece of private land.The deer feel quite safe on this piece because they are surrounded with many small pieces of unhuntable land,and are pretty much undisturbed.Access is a tremendous consideration for us locally,gain access to some of the most desireable private ground and your odd's have escalated tremendously.
A older mountain buck is harder to find and pattern,and seemingly will go underground if you screw up in the least on them.I will be making use of lot's of shoe leather and for the first time this summer the use of trail camera's,I can't help but think the camera's will provide me with lot's of usefull information.
The private land archers and the deep mountain gunners consistently take the biggest bucks in my home area.
Our ability to gain permission on key private land is likely the most important element in our opportunity to take our best bucks.

HUNTING PRESSURE............. TOO MANY HUNTERS WALK AROUND THE WOODS. THEY ALSO DO NOT HUNT CLEAN. LEAVE TO MUCH SCENT AND BUMP TO MANY DEER. AN EDUCATED BUCK IS EITHER ON THE " PRAIRIE" OR NOCTURNAL.

How True!! and with the shrinking amount of ground in IL. for the average Joe to hunt this is even more True

There are whitetails, mature whitetails and then the elusive super secretive whitetails.

All kidding aside, I believe the "top end bucks" in many areas have got to be that wayNOT simply because they tend to be just a bit spookier then most andNOT simply because they have learned from previous mistakes, I honestly believe that something has happened for most of their lives to allow them to survive to monsterous proportions. I think in many cases its because for whatever reason thelargest bucks have been much less interested in the rutting ritual. Not that they won't or don't breed but they will NOT run and trail for miles and make a lot of the mistakes many other bucks do once their mind gets fogged by the rutting instints. Again realize that I'm not talking just about any mature buck but the truly top end deer in my area to which the question was asked. I don't know if it's something genetically different or hormonally different but it just seems that when a truly top end buck is ever killed here, many times no one had ever seen the deer during legal shooting hours and not even a shed had been recovered from it's past. However, I don't believe this is becasue the bucks travel miles and miles in a huge range. In fact, I believe the opposite to be true. I believe that the top end bucks do NOT have a huge area and in fact spend the vast majority of the time living in a realitively small area in which they are intimately familar with. I also believe that they rarely move during legal shooting hours to do anything. Just like humans once the reach a certain age, they seem more content just to sit around and be lazy and care more about survival that runnin' around and chasin' the girls. I've also noted that many of these bucks aren't the traditional giant bodied and thickly swollen beasts like our typical mature buck is. These top end bucks seem to be in excellent shape, have beautiful coats withno scars on 'em and no damage or breaks to their head gear? I've also noted that many seem to have small unswollen necks, certainly NOT the norm for a mature breeder buck??? Could it be that these top end deer somehow have a hormonal imbalance thatprevenets them from gettingthat pumped up about the rut??? If so, I believe this may explain why they could live into that 6 1/2 and 7 1/2 age classes? This may also explain why even in hunted areas these deer simply are NOT seen and when/if they are it isn't running a Doe across an open field. Where and how do these beasts live right under so many other hunters noses yet not only manage to stay invisible??? In many instances, even their shedsare never recovered.... now THAT is a hiding spot! I'm just personally convinced that a "top end" buck ina givenarea is a totally different species.

Of course, by this thread asking about "top end bucks in your area", realize that in my neck of the woods this would include several of the largest antlered bucks in the world and many taken within just 5 to 15 miles of me. From the previous ('99) archery state record that scored 251 6/8 P&Y to Illinois' All-timerecord non-typ, the Bryant Giant, that scored 304 3/8" B&C (X-bow in '01) and even Scott Dexter's state record muzzleloader buck that scored 294" B&C,no one had ever seen these monstersuntil the day they were shot!

Bingo, give that man a cigar.Our big bucks are either nocturnal or laying out in the middle of a field in a weed patch where they can see for miles around them and not a tree in sight. Fence rows too where they can lay and wait for dark so that they can get up and move after the hunters are gone.

David Morris devoted a chapter in one of his books (Hunting Trophy Whitetails)to what IL-Cornfed is describing.Secretive Super bucks.A buck more concerned with survival than breeding,an ultra extreme timid animal who very likely isn't the dominant buck in the area because they are also averse to fighting.
Obviously a genetic phenomenon.Or an emotionally scarred animal,a just miss sent them in to a super reclusive existence.

Ok, this maybe hard to believe but where I go on scouting trips the wild sheep and deer don't mind people unlesspeople leave the walking trails....you can actually look at them from about 50 yards ( if you know where to look )but once you leave the trail for more than a few yards they dash off to higher ground or thicker scrub.
And I've noticed that the deer only use their owntrails during the summer and autumn, once thefoilage drops, they stay away from hunting grounds and feeding places.....
the big ram I shot with my camera (http://www.flickr.com/photos/69041177@N00/sets/72157600304831105/)is one I've spotted almost every year, for about 5 years now and he keeps getting bigger. But even tho' the best feeding is done on a plateau filled with hunting stands ( rifle ) I suspect the oldest goat to keep the herd away from these places.
In spring you can sit in those hide outs and watch whole herds of sheep, wild boar and deer pass you by but come autumn you'll be all alone up there.