Herdhunter I agree with you in a way. I believe the other hunters in the north and northeast that aren't seeing the number of deer. They know their area - at least most of them do.
During archery I seen many deer. I kept a log of what I seen each day. The numbers were pretty good until later on after the muzzleloader and small game hunters began moving around. We had corn planted on the neighboring farm for the first time since we've lived here. So the deer here changed their patterns drastically. They were bedding in the corn and not in our woods like they used to. Once the corn was cut some of the deer (I believe the young ones) began to bed on top of this hill that is thick with vines and brambles. I began to only see very young deer. Where did all the adult deer go?
Opening day there was a lot of shooting but it has been sporadic to quiet since. I've seen some deer here and there but nothing like the last couple of years. It is not because there are no deer here. There is one local farm which I can see from the hill on our property. Most evenings there are from 10 to 35 deer there. Several of the deer are shootable bucks and there is even a 12 pointer which shows up sometimes. One afternoon I watched the hunters leave the woods from this property and the deer showed up a half hour later. They must have a good hiding place where they can see when it is safe to come out. Apparently these deer know it is not safe anywhere else.
I've run into several different hunters driving ours and neighboring properties. They aren't seeing much and I laugh and tell them to go check out the farm over there. They then know what I'm talking about. It is the same thing where we hunt in Allegheny and Washington Cos. You either see nothing or a herd of 10 to 20. And even then the deer are not in any of the usual places.
If you guys in the north and northeast have dwindling numbers of deer then no wonder you aren't seeing anything. What little deer you do have must be hiding in a really hard to get to place.
Well, one more day then I can catch up on some rest....