They do exist. I killed my first at age 11 in 1979 and managed to kill one every year since 1984. But here is the rub, most of the bucks I killed were the ONLY ones I saw. Sometimes early in the rifle season, sometimes during late buck and a couple times with only minutes to go on the last day of late buck. I used to use a 30 30, but for the last 15 yrs I have used a scoped .270.

If you spend enough time, it will happen. Most clear cut hunting is over after the first hour or so. Then it is time to hit the timber or reprod depending on the weather. If the rain is sideways and the trees are threatening to fall....that is the best time to hit the thick stuff. If you are hunting Vail and the CF then you will want to hunt in the middle of the week and all day if you can. Find the edges and draws that are away from the heavily traveled areas. Don't worry about looking for water, instead look for bedding/feeding areas (they are often the same place). The second week of the season (4th week of Oct) has always been good for me. The pre rut is usually going good with bucks moving and looking for does.