Reflecting on the book, there's (at the same time) very little and a lot to say.
A lot of space "wasted" on things that I have no desire to do - regardless of the odds of success I don't really see much enjoyment in hunkering down behind a gun staring down a 15 ft wide swath that someone else cut for me waiting to shoot a deer. Doesn't appeal to me.
He sure takes a ton of words to say "hunt pinchpoints (in areas with a lot of deer) between food and cover once a year when a coldfront hits on a windy day and the wind favors you". Honestly some of the more interesting analysis is what DOESN'T matter in his (large and organized) experience.
I think the reason the book resonates with me so much, is that you cannot argue with the findings. They are what they are. Like you said, so many of the things that DON'T help or matter or improve your odds, are just as important. It's about as fundamental, or ground truths, as you can get in regards to improving your odds of killing deer.
I agree with you, if you trust that the person has the experience, and did the work, and when they say "hunt pinch points (in areas with a lot of deer) between food and cover once a year when a cold front hits on a windy day and the wind favors you"...that's great. The problem is many people either don't trust someone, or don't know how to think about the problem to begin with. The book not only says, here's the data, you can't argue the data -it just is...It also teaches you how to perform the experiment. You don't have to hunt the same location, terrain, weather patterns, deer densities, or bag limits as he does. But it shows the value in taking all of these things into consideration. But sometimes hammering home point after point on why some things work and why some things don't, is necessary. Like he says, you don't have to accept it - do what you want. But you can't unknow the information once you've read it. You just make a choice to decrease your odds.
If your goal is "I want to kill as many deer as I can within the confounds of the law, and I will do anything to support that effort", you can take the book literally, and it becomes THE playbook for southern hunters, and a general blueprint for all hunters.
If your goal is to better understand how daytime deer movement relates to hunter success, and use a huge data set to help you think about that relationship, and not pretend that deer think like us or how we want them to think and behave, this is an excellent resource. Like you, I don't use many of the tactics he does, and if I do, most if not all have been gained from personal experience or other mentors. I've picked up a tip or two from him. But I read the book every season, and it grounds me in reality again before I hit the woods.
One thing he doesn't cover, is the next level, or next step - This is one of the things I often think about. Ok, so you know all the reasons why the deer won't go to spot A after you or someone else on public land has stunk it up. Now what? Well, those deer are going SOMEWHERE on that property to bed, and while bedded, they will still move around within the confines of that bedding area. And eventually, they're going to eat. Yes, it most likely will be at night. But that bedding area provides opportunities. I've noted many times, I walk constantly. Part of the reason why is that I understand how transient deer will be because of public land pressure, but also because our terrain and topography dictates that deer "flow" through areas, not follow defined trails. I'm finding where I or other people push the deer, and then I'm trying to find a pinch or funnel within those areas that give me an advantage.
If nothing else, the book is an antidote to what the capitalists among us have been feeding us mainline the last 20-30 years... Humans are MUCH more afraid of loss than they are excited about gain. By promoting the next gadget or gamechanger or whatever it is, they are scraping that subconscious fear of failure. At the end of the day, the gear you use has so little to do with your success hunting. I'm a gear junkie for sure. I'm also single and have no kids. I spend more time scouting and hunting than I do messing with gear. And if some woman is crazy enough to mate with me, I promise the time lost will not be the scouting and hunting time.
As our trust in institutions erodes, I welcome books like this, that give you pure, concentrated medicine. Is there a little sugar in there in the form of outdoor writing skills, family, faith, etc.? Sure. But it's woven into the truth about deer.