A properly sighted and patterned 30 cal. rifle is very capable of accuracy with out a scope at 200 yds. I imagine here in the eastern US there aren't that many places that demand 300 yd shots.Manyof the hunters that I knew had either deer stands or used previous sighting to find hunting areas.BUT as with everything else, the sport has become crowded.I gave up water fowl hunting when the 10 gauge shot gun began showing up more and more often.Most of "new " hunters think that range is as far as you can see.More crippled water fowl, more downed where they couldn't be reaced, it wasn't worth the hassle anymore. Then came purchased hunting rights, a group would put up a fee and pay land owners to limited use of their property.So small game hunting became harder for the common hunter.Public land were OK for us guys who had week days off, but even that became a drawing system.By the time I had enough land of my own, I had already lost interest in hunting, and instead starting to make places for them to feed and be observed.
I must say you said it well.