I dont hunt Sproul but I hunt similar terrain in the ANF and can tell you that hunter numbers are a mere fraction of what they once were and our deer sightings are down as well.

Some possible explanations

Hunting pressure in gun season has lessened to the degree that we no longer have deer bouncing around the woods like pinballs trying to avoid humans. On the other hand, the hunting pressure is enough to let the deer know we're there and they tend to hole up. This makes the old Pa tradition of stump sitting till the deer come by much less effective.

deer feeding on mast will natuarlly feed randomly without concentrating into any particular area as opposed to deer that move to a crop field daily tofeed and can be patterned.

Habitat, and consequently deer numbers have crashed in certain areas contributing to the no deer arguement for some spots.

I've seen less deer around my camp in recent years and yet the area directly behindit has so much deer scat that you can hardlywalk through my property without stepping on pellets. Could be that our traditional hunting methodsrequire some adjusting?