There are a few reasons why I feel that we dont see these bigger bucks, but see their sign all over the place. Roadkill is one, and the fact that they could have been hunted, or they hold up in the other properties around the area....we hunt a small piece of land so it doesn't surprise me that I do not see them all the time.

Not that many really big deer taken out as roadkill here, however the poaching is unbelievable around where I live. There are just too many back roads to provide easy poaching along the farm crops. The really big boys are just plain smart and lay up in patches between houses. I would say that most big deer are hit and lost during the rut. If you pay attention to what your neighbors find dead and what bow hunters say they hit and lose, that accounts for a lot of deer.