It certainly hasn't dropped 90% around the areas I hunt, but has been most definitely TRENDING as fewer hunters, and the remaining hunters spending fewer days afield annually hunting deer.
Another "trend" is that most of our hunters (and this is nationally, not just in TN) are an aging group, dying out faster than they're being replaced by younger hunters. This will have an effect, not only on land ownership patterns, but also on lease prices, and the future of hunting itself.
As you have already seen, many of the older hunters have purchased much of the land masses which was once "public" hunting areas. So the hunting land is still there, just not available to the general public. Yet, it's these same older (dying out) hunters who are each year themselves hunting less. Worse, most of their children & grandchildren have little interest in hunting, despite grandparents with large "recreational" properties.
Most of the expensive lease prices (in TN, most are way over-priced for what they are), have also been carried by these older hunters, as they tend to have much more discretionary money than the younger ones. As they have been dying out, the younger ones simply cannot afford the high lease prices, and many have simply just quit deer hunting. Some have switched to waterfowl, but more are just essentially quitting hunting, period.
As a good example, take a look at our friend "Ruger" on this site as a prime example.
He was one of the original founders of this deer-hunting website, and for years totally owned it.
Now he doesn't even deer hunt!
But not too many years ago, Ruger was a very avid deer hunter. He has since become an avid duck hunter, probably hasn't deer hunted at all the past couple years. Give him a couple more years, I bet he doesn't hunt ANYTHING half as much as he's done his duck hunting this year and last. I can only see most his future "free" time spent bream fishing, even though he's currently pre-retirement age.
To a great extent, "middlemen" leasing companies have destroyed their own markets. CWD regulations and CWD fear-mongering have also contributed greatly to decreased interest in deer hunting in West TN & Western Middle TN.
Each year, I hear fewer rifle shots in the surrounding area. This year was the least in my lifetime.
Another issue going along with the decrease in both the number of deer hunters and the intensity with which they hunt: The "type" hunting that is declining and trending forward.
Traditionally, most U.S. deer hunting could be described as "sport" deer hunting, albeit most hunters have eaten their venison, but still have hunted more for the "sport" of hunting than for just the organic meat. THESE have been the hunters willing to buy & lease property for hunting.
But today, the main increase in deer hunters is coming for different reasons. More of the new deer hunters are killing deer for the main purpose of obtaining free-range organic meat. For this purpose, no large property, no expensive less is needed. In fact, most have friends & acquaintances begging them to come kill deer behind their homes.
These new "hunters" have no problem doing most their deer killing on small acreage tracts, "free" of any lease fees, travel, or other costs. They also don't have to spend time driving hours across TN, just to enjoy their new activity (which I'm not sure should really be called deer "hunting", as it's mostly just going out and shooting a deer for the meat). Yet, they get counted as deer "hunters" just the same as those now dying out who HAD spent huge sums of time & money for the traditional "sport" of deer hunting.
