Maybe in isolated pieces of land numbers are decreasing, or they rotate around chasing the big one. Many move on to private land. ME... I remember when you could literally go just about ANYWHERE on public land during bow season and NEVER see another bowhunter for the WHOLE season. Other than the one guy I hunted with a couple of times a year... I doubt I saw another bowhunter in the woods for the first 6 or 7 years I bowhunted, maybe longer. Occasionally(but rarely) I'd cross paths with a squirrel hunter or something. In those days if you told someone you were a bowhunter you'd get a strange look and a "sure you are. What are you really doing?"