warbirdlover, the situation here is just the opposite of yours. Our early archery season is Sept 1-9, then rifle from Sept 9 to Nov 30 (ya, over 2 1/2 months, including right through the rut), then late archery Dec 1-20.
Further, there is a junior firearms season exactly during the early archery, Sept 1-9. I'm afraid I took advantage of that by putting my granddaughter onto her first deer this year, but it still rots my socks.
It could be argued that archery still gets the advantage because, technically, you can bowhunt throughout the rifle season. But the deer are so stirred up and the situation potentially dangerous that I know of nobody who does.
As for bowhunting being easier than rifle - whether with a yew selfbow or a fancy schmancy compound - not around here. In 45 years of hunting I've always had virtually unlimited opportunities to take deer with a rifle if I so chose. Not so with the bow. There is a great mix of dense forest/open woodlands/agriculture and you can choose to hunt where shots are no further than 20 yards or out to several hundred. And I agree that a certain percentage of bowhunters will shoot much further than they have any business doing, and staunchly defend their actions. But the same goes for firearms hunters.
Finally, I'm glad that we have longbows, recurves, compounds, crossbows, flintlocks, inline smokepoles, shotguns, and high powered rifles. Gives almost everyone the opportunity to do what we all love with a passion.
PS - Our game department does a horrible job of managing our hunting seasons as far as providing a sustainable resource.