My guess is that if they ever are the "dominant" buck in their area, they don't stay that way when they get older. It just seems like a deer that is more aggressive and makes himself dominant is more apt to get killed (chasing more, breeding more, etc), whereas one that is just content would stand a better chance of getting old. Of course I have absolutely no basis for this opinion, it's just a guess. I wish BSK would chime in on that one.

ive been tryin to find an article in f&s that had to do with this. It was about non breeder bucks, whether it be due to age or injury how they push way back into the deep thick nasty where they never see people, pretty interesting i will keep lookin and see if i can find it, i dont believe everything i read but its one of them things that makes you think