Not less deer just alot more spread out. I got my buck in 3C and while not seeing as many, only 6 does and 4 bucks the whole season, the quality of the bucks has been much better. Don't know about everywhere else but last year was first good crop of forage in years and this year was incredible. It was like walking on marbles everywhere. Acorns, walnuts, hickories, wild grapes, even the chestnuts that could produce had a bumper year. More squirrels than I've seen in a very long time, reds, grays, blacks, and mice and chipmunks everywhere. I think the deer have simply spread themselves out as they have so many food sources that they didn't need to use their old routes. Even the bears have stayed up high this year and haven't even raided the garbage and there is far more than usual as we have seen three of them in the last two weeks and you can find their droppings in literally every clearing in sizes that are downright scary. They ate every gut pile we dropped.( figure its them when the whole gut pile is gone,they drag it away versus smaller creatures that eat it there and leave some sort of remains) I think the deer are going to start using more traditional runways etc this weekend with snow on the ground and the forage finally starting to thin. Just an opinion and good luck, going to sleep. Will be heading out to 3C or 3k to fill a DMP tommorrow. take care.