I know what you mean. When I moved back to WA in 2001 and started hunting mulies (grew up hunting whitetails in Kettle Falls) I thought it was going to be easy to spot and stalk in the wheat fields and CRP around here. My buddy showed me an area that has about 3 miles of CRP, sage and buck brush, so I was walking it after work during the general rifle season. I passed a little draw with some brush growing in it, and stopped to look thinking "that would be a great place for a deer to hide". I watched for a minute. Nothing. So I walked a few yards. I stopped and looked again, this time with my binos (even though the brush was only 50 yards away). Nothing. I walked past it, and then thought "maybe I should walk up the draw and gain some elevation". So I started walking towards it. 4 muley does hopped up out of nowhere and ran off! I started rethinking how many deer I was probably cruising past in "open country"...