I have the same to report. I've hunted the same ridge on private property in the Huckleberry unit every year since 1977. This was the worst year I can ever remember.
I hunted every legal minute of four days and was at my stands each morning well before dawn. My daughter, a skilled and patient hunter hunted the same way for two days.
Between us we saw ZERO whitetails, not one. Not a flag, not a snort, not a thump-thump-thump of a spooked deer. Usually, we see multiple deer each day.
The landowner believes that coyote depredation has been a big factor in addition to the harsh winter last year.