Pretty rare to shoot one public or open ground. I think they are more common than people think they are. The big boys go nocternal as they get older and stay that way most of the year. They also inhabit the thickest stuff around and its hard for people to hunt them. Most people on this side road hunt anyhow. We are seeing more of them taken in the late bow season as people adopt whitetail tactics and use tree stands. I would say a trophy class BT in Western Wa is the toughest hunt in North America.