Certainly not fewer hunters. We have way less deer so less bucks are reaching the age they need to reach to throw out those occasional freaks. I believe it's a combination of several issues.
The bear population just absolutely exploded and they have developed a taste for fawns in the Spring. When we became known for big deer, we didn't have bears, thanks TWRA for that. It's pitiful what our fawn recruitment a few weeks after birth has dropped to. I literally see more bear cubs than deer fawns, that's no joke.
Less deer has led to another compounding issue. We were already known for lots of poaching. Less deer means more hunters that decide to cheat because it's so hard to see much anymore legally. Cell camera with a bait pile has become widely popular. Get the pic, slip out and shoot the buck. I am amazed how effective that has been for a lot of people. It's more effective than anyone wants to think. I keep a hog bait out on my farm that I don't deer hunt and could shoot a particular really nice buck there a couple nights a week if I were into that.
The third issue, development. So many people are moving here in droves. You need wild areas for deer to get age here due to the poaching issues. Thousands upon thousand of acres with no roads are needed. You need large areas that can't be road hunted or hunted with night vision. We have lost so many of these areas just in the last few years to development. Most of the people moving here want to somewhat be involved in the outdoors so they shoot deer in the yard and out behind the house.
I really think the good old days are done here in my area unfortunately.
