I hunt the same areas each year, yet I've found that no two years are the same, in regard to how many deer I see. I've had years where I've had 25-30 bucks within shooting range, and others where I struggled to get 2 or 3 within range.

Each year is different. Weather, temperature, the moon, the wind, food availability, other hunters, etc., affect deer movement. Sometimes they seem to be active only at night and other times, they're everywhere in the middle of the day. I hear people all the time, getting discouraged by "the lack of deer". I just chuckle that they think because they aren't seeing deer, there must not be any.

Keep in mind that things can change overnight, especially as the rut approaches. I've had years where I didn't see a single buck the first two weeks of the season and then had 15 in range the following week. Hunt as smart as you can, change stands frequently, and spend lots of time in the woods during the pre-rut and rut.