I have had similar experiences in CO. , I won't go into , but some residents don't like it if you out hunt them.
,It seems that the Internet and YouTube ,onX and social media has made longrange hunting and hunting a little more popular . They make it look easy on YouTube . Years back you couldn't just click on YouTube and watch all the hunting you wanted, and guys knocking over elk at 1000 yds, No such thing existed.
I don't find any part of elk hunting easy. Listen , I'm not knocking or blaming the Internet or onX ,or any one thing , the things mentioned are just part of the reason that the public lands are sometimes over crowed and that contributes to the mess.
On the bright side look at all the fairly new longrange custom gun shops that never existed, and suppliers of all the parts, ammo , etc, the list goes on, seems like gun manufacturers all have a long range model now.
The game has changed a little.