[Red Bullets]

I knew of one old buck that lived exactly like you mention. Using obscure trails in snarly brush and almost impossible to pattern.

My tip: Old bucks have old beds. The old big buck I knew had a bed that looked like he was born in it. If you can locate a old bucks bed then you can try and figure out how to approach it according to wind and such. I found that old bucks bed and it was situated on a ridge point with only a few deciduous trees. There were heavy stands of spruce 100 yards away down a slope and stands of deciduous and brush on the flat top land. Also a creek 100 yards away. No matter which direction I approached his bed he could see me coming. I never did get a shot at that buck but was able to catch him near his bed a couple times.

If you use doe in heat during the rut you can go 100 yards upwind from the bucks bed and lay a trail of doe in heat scent on the crosswind as you walk past his bed. Lay the scent trail at a regular walking pace. Then stop, turn around and stand there with gun ready. Stand looking down the scent trail and he most likely will come to the scent trail within minutes if he is in his bed. I had good success on other bucks with a 30 yard scent trail perpendicular to the wind and upwind of the beds. One time, by the time I laid the scent trail, I turned around and stood there for 3 minutes and hte buck was there.