As far the survey goes, if they spoke to 4 landowners and 1 said nobody ever asked to hunt... the numbers would be factual. It's a stupid and worthless survey and I get aggravated everytime I read it.

Times have certainly changed. Leasing is the way to go for landowners. Hey, it's their land. They can do what they want with it. Including raise deer on it and let people come in and shoot them in a pen.
Guys like yourself who bought your own land will continue to have a good experience and be in a very small minority.
The rest of us will find other things to do... like hunt and fish out of state.

The lack of deer sightings for me is making me rethink how I spend my time and money going forward. The cost of a lease could quite easily send me to other states to hunt and fish.

As the famous Gundude always says: HUNT ON!