I can tell you that I grew up in this area Atkinson talks about, and know several of those ranches very well. I even hunted the Boyd ranch growing up. Deer of B&C proportions do in fact live there, but don't let the book be your sole source of information, as any avid mule deer hunter knows, many of the biggest mule deer bucks do not make the book, the the "book" can be (and is, IMO) overated. There are bucks killed in the 190"+ class every year in these areas I(we killed 2 190" class bucks last year here). It is a sleeper area for sure, with tightly controlled access, huge ranches, and many ranchers do not need the money here (oil royalties fill the bill nicely for them). Like he said, the deer are thinly dispersed over vast areas, much like Sonora. The big bucks are there, and the hunting can be brutal, but worth it.
