I would love to be able to travel the countryside looking for deer, there just isn't that kind of room around here.
I would have to concede that after watching a couple of those "famous hunters" on TV the hunt seems, and may be, canned. Here's how they usually go.
Opening shot, a lush, well groomed clover field, our "hunter" in the stand turns to the camera and speaks. "Here we are in Iowa" (Illinois, Kansas, where-ever) " We're huntin with so-and-so outfitters" (heck I'm huntin here for free might as well give em a little free advertising). "I'm hunting over a field of Royal Bio-smart clover, man this stuff brings in the deer" (Keep them royalty checks coming). Close up of the brand new Matthews bow and the new high end bino the guy is using - $$CHA_CHING$$ more kick backs coming in. "Here comes a big buck". Sure enough here comes buckzilla, unsuspecting, on a route the outfitter has watched him take for weeks. The shot, the hit, the deer runs off. Back to the shooter, he's pumped, he's exited, "What a great hunt, the outfitter has been watching that deer and told us it would come through here. Lets go take a look at him." The deer is big, the hunter starts talking about all the products that made him successful, the scent lock suit, the treestand, the arrows and broadheads, anything that will make him a few dollars. You know he's laughing all the way to the bank, because anything he actually purchased is a write-off.
To the whole thing, I say (yawn) boring.
That deer is certainly a product of his environment, but cover and food did not make that deer feel safe. You guys are missing something, that deer felt zero hunting pressure. The outfitters tie up thousands of acres and hunt it very lightly and carefully.
I've seen the same scenario play out on western hunts. The hunter books a hunt on a private ranch and has the guide bugling in giant elk at every turn. I hunt public land that has similar habitat and food, but because of HUNTING PRESSURE bulls are hard to come by.
The reality of whitetail hunting is that there are guys on almost every farm, around here that amounts to a hunter every 60 or so huntable acres. That is a lot of hunting pressure and it make the deer nervous and smart. They are far more difficult to hunt in reality than they are on some animal "snuff" film where animals are whored out for profit, you guys should know that.