personaly i do belive they are harder. well at least up here in north west washington i have hunted all over up here and you see alot of deer but you get tired of shooting spikes and two points and the big bucks are in the timber and the timber is extreamly hard to hunt up her do to the under brush witch varys form 3ft up to over your head and is so thick you cant see five feet infront of you. tree stands are only good up here if you watching a clear cut blinds dont work to well neither or else you are hunting a privet feild witch the only one's who do that are the owners. this year we did get lucky with the rut in the normal season and not in extended buck season. witch was really diffrent for us. if you want to find the answer for your self just come on up north here and hunt it for your self.