I saw the something similar while out hunting here in Utah this year but I didn't necessarily see less hunters everywhere, I saw hunters staying closer to home. It seemed that hunting grounds close to civilization had many more hunters than usual and the the further out you got the number of people dropped off considerably. In Utah it seems my theory is supported in part by the fact that nearly all tags sold out, most of them earlier this year compared to last year.

I think hunters just found ways to do it cheaper although I'm sure there were some that skipped the hunts altogether.