Like others have said, every area is different. We have our camp in a non-ag area of mountains. Miles of oak, hickory, maple, tulip poplar, birch, cherry, hemlock and white pine forest. Before we had plots, nice bucks were a rarity. We think the plots have added much needed GOOD nutrition to the whole herd. Our deer are bigger, heavier, healthier & we have more big-racked bucks than before plots. A typical buck used to be 110 to 120 lbs. with a 4 or 6 pt. rack you could span with a #2 pencil. Now we have 8, 9, and 10 pt. bucks of 150 to 180 lbs. and racks of 100" to 140" with 16 to 18" spreads. The plots are a magnet for deer here. Year-round high protein, high mineral food has definitely helped our deer herd. Such good nutrition has helped does and fawning success. And come fall - the more does hanging around, the greater chance of seeing nice bucks cruising through.
We also added more cover. 3 loggings and then planting spruce, balsam fir, witch hazel, serviceberry, hawthorn, ROD and caging stumps has thickened the surrounding areas to our plots. With more thick staging areas, we have better chances of seeing bucks approaching the plots. But like Natty said in his post, having plots lures does = cruising bucks checking in at all hours. From the last week of October on into mid-November, I've seen bucks cruising from first light to noon, with a red-alert period from 8 am to about 10:30 am. I don't know why but that time slot seems to produce regular sightings here.
Stand access is always important, no matter where you hunt. Gene and Barry Wensel have said for years, that un-pressured, un-educated bucks are the best ones to hunt. If folks are always at their camp or working a farm, deer will get used to that activity. It's when there's a CHANGE in that activity that the deer notice something's up. At our place, there's almost no activity all year long in the woods. ATV's ride around the fields, but the woods are basically left alone. But come September, guys start showing up to clear trails, work on tree stands or blinds, ride ATV's in the woods, scout through the woods, etc., and deer activity changes. Daylight sightings change from 4:00 pm-ish in the plots to just before dark - then to after dark. We educate the deer by a sudden change in our year-long patterns.