It all depends on where you grew up and were able to hunt. As an example, I grew up in the Birmingham and north section of the State and ran around in the hills and hollows of Cullman County in the 60's, 70's & 80's and yes it was extremely rare to see deer tracks, much less a deer in that area. Now, there is a very good huntable deer population in that area, so hunting is much better now.
All depends where you grew up. However, I would agree about hunting in much of the "Blackbelt area". That is where most people that deer hunted went from the areas I grew up in.